A Twist of Fate
by Sihaya
Summary: ~*Chapter One, Part Two Up*~ Cedric/Angelina, for now...Angelina Johnson chases the most sought-after boy in school, but we know it must come to a bitter end...Part One is almost finished. I have to decide whether to split it up into two fics. R/R
1. Fat Chasers and a Dementor

**~*Chapter One*~ **

Fat Chasers and a Dementor  

**Summary **Cho wasn't the only one in love with Cedric…

**Rated **PG13 

**Disclaimer **If I owned Harry Potter, I would be sitting in the middle of a mansion in England thinking about Prince William in my hot tub…but alas! I don't even own a hot tub. 

**Author's Note **Starts at the beginning of third year…for Harry, anyway. This is NOT an AU fic, except for one little thing- I'm putting Oliver and Cedric and putting them in the same year as Fred and George and the whole lot- for romantic purposes, okay? So now everyone mentioned above is sixteen and eligible for the Triwizard Tournament in a year. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are still their regular ages, though. Keep in mind that this is not (really) AU except for that one thing. Also, this story IS a romantic, dramatic one. Just be patient. 

~*~

            Angelina Johnson stepped off the scarlet train, holding a small bag in her hands. She sighed, breathing in the sweet air of England. Never before had she felt so happy to be here, away from all the chaos at home. An involuntary tear slipped down her cheek at the thought and she hurriedly wiped it away. The memories brought to mind the strange dementor on the bus- what had that been about? 

            "Angelina!" A familiar voice called. Alicia Spinnet was running towards her, her ponytail bouncing with every step. Angelina smiled and waved as her friend ran up to her, leaning on her shoulder for breath. "Hi…Ang…el…"

            "Spit it out, Alicia!" Angelina said, smiling and slapping her friend on the back. Alicia buckled. "You really need to get back in shape, girl! Quidditch season's starting! You know, Quid-ditch?" Angelina smiled at Alicia.

            "Let's go up to the castle," Alicia said, fully recovered from her little sprint. "Oh, and we _have _to get the dates for all the Hogsmeade visits, I'm almost out of Pepper Imps, and then there's the Chocolate Frogs, and I finished my last bag of Ice Mice on the train!" she complained. Angelina laughed. It was good to be back. 

~*~

            "Wood!" Angelina said affectionately, wrapping her arms around Oliver and squeezing him tightly, lifting her feet off the ground.

            "Angelina!" Oliver cried, scandalized. Angelina let go and laughed. As usual, Oliver was not upset over what he had appeared. "How many pounds have you put on?" he asked. Angelina put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes. "Not _just_ the Seekers are supposed to remain skinny, Angelina! Have you ever watched ten minutes of Muggle TV? There's a miracle product out there- called _Slim Fast_, write that down- and it's the best thing bestowed to the human race." 

            "You can shove that Slim-whatever up your ass, Wood," Angelina said, sitting down at the Gryffindor table. "It's Alicia that's been packing on the pounds, not me."

            "ALICIA!" Oliver bellowed. Angelina shook her head and laughed. She had always been fond of the Gryffindor team captain, since the day she had joined the team as one of their Chasers. 

            "Just sit down," Angelina insisted to the furious Keeper. "Do you really think Alicia will listen to you?" Oliver sat down heavily and stared darkly at the door of the entrance hall, waiting for Alicia to walk in. "I wonder where she is," Angelina said.

            At that moment, a red-faced Alicia burst in the door, followed by two equally red (haired) boys by the names of Fred and George Weasley. The mischievous twinkles in their eyes hadn't changed a bit since last year. Angelina smiled at them as they sat down, saying hello to them. Dumbledore, at the High Table, stood up.

            "Welcome!" He said, "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! I have a few things to say to you all, and as one of them is very serious, I think it best to get it out of the way before you become befuddled by our excellent feast." The Headmaster paused a moment, his gaze sweeping over the students. "As you will all be aware after their search of the Hogwarts Express, our school is presently playing host to some of the Dementors of Azkaban, who are here on Ministry of Magic business.

            "They are stationed at every entrance to the grounds, and while they are with us, I must make it plain that nobody is to leave the school without permission. Dementors are not to be fooled with tricks or disguises or even Invisibility Cloaks." Angelina fancied that his gaze rested on the Gryffindor table as he said this and she looked around curiously. Maybe he was thinking of Fred and George. "It is not in the nature of a Dementor to understand pleading or excuses," he continued. Then Dumbledore introduced two new teachers, a rather shabby looking man named Lupin and, surprisingly, the caretaker, Hagrid. Angelina raised her brows at this. Everyone knew that Hagrid had been suspended. Then, food appeared on the plates. George took a helping of everything. 

            "Good potatoes," George said through a mouthful of the stuff. Oliver removed his glare from Alicia for a moment to shoot George with death lasers. George ignored this and continued to slide half a stick of butter off onto his potatoes.

            "Will everyone slack off with the eating?" Oliver cried suddenly.

            "Calm down, Wood," Fred said, not taking his eyes off his plate. "What would you rather have us eat, salads?" Then, at that worst possible moment, Alicia's robes opened and a bag stuffed full of assorted Hogsmeade candy slid onto the table. The whole of the Gryffindor team turned their heads towards Oliver, whose face was as red as a Muggle fire truck. 

            "Oliver?" Angelina said cautiously. "You look like a fish." This comic relief had come so suddenly that Oliver let go of his breath and stared at the Chaser curiously. Then he sighed and slumped down in his seat. 

            "I don't know," he mumbled, "I just want that cup so bad, so we can smear Slytherin guts all over it."

            "Slytherin's don't have any guts," George pointed out.

            "But good point, anyway," said Fred hastily. Angelina put an arm around Oliver and patted his back.           

            "It's okay, Oliver," she comforted, "'sides, we got _Potter. _And, nothing can possibly go wrong this year. Right?" she soothed. "Calm thyself." Oliver looked sidelong at her, and half of his mouth curled up in a smile. 

            "Right," Angelina said. "Back to business." She took her arm off Oliver and returned to cutting up an enormous piece of chicken. Alicia tucked the bag of sweets back into her robes. 

            "Sorry Oliver," she said, sounding like a little child.

            "'S alright, Alicia," Oliver said. 

            "This whole Dementor business is creepy!" cried a whiny-voiced third year named Parvati. "I wish they weren't here!"

            "Just as long as they don't screw up a Quidditch match, I'm happy," Oliver said. "Or if Hufflepuff doesn't beat us." 

            Angelina's eyes stole over to the Hufflepuff table, to the face of the handsome Cedric Diggory. Her heart skipped a beat before she could jerk herself into the real world again. Cedric was chased by almost every single girl in the school and had dated almost all of them. Angelina told herself that it was just a crush and her mind returned to Quidditch and the Gryffindor team. 

            "So, did you hear about that escaped convict? Sirius Black, he escaped from Azkaban!" Alicia said worriedly. "That's why the Dementors are here." 

            "I'd like to know how he did it," remarked Fred, in all due seriousness. "I mean, _Azkaban._" 

            "Can we think about Quidditch, please?" Oliver said sharply.

            "Just because you think about it 24/7 doesn't mean that we do too, Oliver," said Alicia indignantly. 

            "Yeah," Katie Bell chimed in. "We have a _life_." 

            "But this is one of our last chances for the Cup! It's either now or never!" Oliver said, impassioned. 

            "Now or never, or next year," George pointed out. "There's always next year."

            Oliver slammed his palm on the table and stood up. "I'm going to bed," he said angrily, storming out of the Great Hall.

            The remainder of the team watched the door expectantly. A minute later, Oliver slammed the doors open again and went to talk to Percy. "_Fortuna Major,_" the prefect said wearily. Oliver nodded and stomped his way back out again.


	2. Herbology with the Hufflepuffs

**~*Chapter Two*~ **

Herbology with the Hufflepuffs  

          "Oh no!" Fred cried when he looked at his schedule the next morning. "It couldn't be any worse than if we had triple potions with the Slytherins!"

            "What is it?" Angelina asked, glancing at her own schedule.

            "Herbology!" Fred wailed. "With the _Hufflepuffs!_"

            "They're not a bad lot, Fred," Katie remarked, glancing at the paper she held in her hand and then throwing it aside. 

            "Especially that Cedric Diggory," Alicia said, dreamily looking over to the Hufflepuff table. Angelina murmured her agreement and looked at her own sheet. 

            "Oh look, Fred," she said lightly, "double Potions with the Slytherins!" 

            "NO!" Fred cried so loud that every head in the Great Hall turned towards them. Fred plopped his face into his arms and sobbed. George followed suit. 

            "Guys, you guys!" Alicia said urgently. "McGonagall's coming!" The twins lifted their heads promptly and continued eating normally as their witch of a Transfiguration teacher strode over. 

            "Mr. Weasley!" McGonagall said.

            "Yes?" Answered Fred and George.

            McGonagall waved her hand at them. "Come with me," she said. A chorus of '_Ooo'_s from the other end of the table were silenced abruptly with a glare as Fred and George rose from their seats and strolled out the door, looking as this was quite a funny situation. Unfortunately, Oliver Wood strode in the door at that moment, looking astonished after the twin Beaters. Then he stomped over to the Gryffindor table and slammed his hands down, without bothering to sit. 

            "Where are they going?" Oliver said.

            "Sit down, Oliver," Angelina ordered. "The pancakes are going cold."

            "No," Oliver said bluntly. "I want to know where those two troublemakers are going!" Angelina shrugged and spooned one of her own pancakes onto Oliver's plate. 

            "I'm full," she said. Oliver sat down and stared miserably at his plate. Then he picked up his schedule. 

            "NO!" Alicia, Katie, and Angelina shouted. 

            "Damn!" Oliver said, throwing down the paper. "Herbology with the Hufflepuffs!"

            "And double Potions with the Slytherins," Angelina reminded him. For a moment Oliver looked as if he was about to start sobbing also, but then Harry Potter walked over. Angelina still marveled at the fact that she was standing three feet away from The Boy Who Lived, and she was on the same Quidditch team as he was. It was mind blowing.

            "Hey, Harry," Oliver said glumly. 

            "Hi, Oliver," Harry said. 

            "Heard you fainted on the train yesterday," Katie said brightly, gesturing over her shoulder at the Slytherins. Angelina turned around in time to see Draco Malfoy swoon onto the table. A whole bunch of Slytherins started laughing and clapping.

            "I didn't _faint,_" Harry said. 

            "Sure you didn't," Alicia said, smirking. Harry rolled his eyes. "Don't roll your eyes at me, Mr. Potter!" Alicia ordered. Harry went to sit a little further down the table, next to a very curly haired girl named Hermione Granger and a very red haired boy named Ron who was Fred and George's 'ickle Ronnikins.' 

            A few minutes later the food melted from the plates. Oliver cursed under his breath. "On to Herbology!" Katie said happily, bouncing up from the table. The rest of the student in their year followed Katie out the door and onto the grounds towards the greenhouses. "Greenhouse Three, chaps," Professor Sprout called. Murmurs of disappointed spread through the crowd- they had been in Greenhouse Three last year. "May I remind you to watch out for the Venomous Tentacula? It will bite! It's teething.

            "Today we will be repotting Mandrakes, which I may say we did not do last year so get those disappointed looks off your faces and grab a pair of 'muffs," Professor Sprout said, pointing to a large pile of earmuffs. Fred and George pounced on the pile and came up with two pairs of fluffy pink ones, snapping them on their heads. Angelina grabbed a pair of blue ones as the Hufflepuffs walked in and grabbed a pair of earmuffs. 

            "Okay, partner assignments," Professor Sprout said over a chorus of groans. "Yes, we are having partners. The Mandrakes proved too much for one person last year…

            "Here it is: Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet. Fred Weasley, Lee Jordan. Cedric Diggory, Angelina Johnson…" Soon the whole class was in pairs. Angelina stood next to Cedric, who already had a potted Mandrake in his hands. He smiled at Angelina.          

            "Will you get an empty pot?" he said. Angelina nodded and, almost tripping over her own feet, went and found and empty pot. Cedric put on his earmuffs and then grabbed the tuft of leaves and pulled, struggling. While he attempted to pull it out, Angelina dug around the leaves with her hands. 

            "Hold on," she motioned, and then started digging around the Mandrake's head. Then, with one last pull, the Mandrake slid out of the dirt. Cedric held it over the empty pot and shoved it in, clapping his hands together to get the dirt off. Angelina went and got another Mandrake, and by the end of class they had repotted almost ten. 

            "Good job, class," Professor Sprout said. "Ten Mandrakes, Angelina and Cedric! Good job. Take ten points each for your houses. See you tomorrow, class." 

            "Ten points," Alicia said, clapping Angelina on the back. "Good job!" 

            "Thanks," Angelina murmured. "I'll be right back." She pushed through the crowd of students and stood by Cedric, waiting for him to turn around to see if he would talk to her. In her mind, Angelina told herself that she was being a fool. Why not go up and talk to him? Angelina went over, but at the last minute her courage failed her and she just stood at the sink next to Cedric, resigned to washing her hands. 

            "That was a good idea you had today, Angelina," Cedric said, drying his hands on the towel and then handing it to Angelina. 

            "Oh…thanks," Angelina stammered.  Cedric smiled again. 

            "Who are you playing first?" Cedric asked. 

            "What?" 

            "Quidditch."

            "Oh, that!" Angelina exclaimed. "I don't know, I'll have to ask Wood. Who're you playing first?"  
            "I think either you or the Slytherins…or maybe Ravenclaw." Cedric said. Angelina laughed. 

            "Those Mandrakes are so ugly," she said. Cedric agreed. 

            "I wonder what they use them for," Cedric wondered. 

            "I think they're used for some kind of antidote or whatever," Angelina said. Then she noticed that the greenhouse was nearly deserted. "Oh!" she said. "I have to go!"

            "Yeah, me too, McGonagall will kill me if I'm late for Transfiguration!" Cedric exclaimed, running out the door and up the fields towards the castle. Angelina followed him, keeping up easily. 

            "Damn, I'm late for Divination," Angelina said. 

            "Don't worry about that," Cedric said as they entered the castle. "She's already foreseen it." 

            Angelina laughed, reluctantly stopping as they camp to a branching off of hallways. "Well," she said, "I'll see you later."

            "Yeah, good luck in your first game!" Cedric called.

            "You too, bye!" Angelina ran down the hall towards Divination, feeling the happiest she had been in a long time. 


	3. Divination Sucks

I love Sean Biggerstaff. 

**~*Chapter Three*~ **

Divination Sucks  

Angelina scurried up hundreds of stairs, not daring to pause. Professor Trelawney was sitting, half-cloaked in shadow as usual. She barely turned her head as Angelina climbed up the silver ladder, clutching her copy of _Unfogging the Future _under her arm.  

            "No need to show me a pass," Professor Trelawney said, "for I already know that you have been in the greenhouse, with a certain Hufflepuff…" Oliver shot Angelina an angry look as she sat down at the table next to him. Katie and Alicia were fighting to suppress their laughter. "Well, class," Professor Trelawney continued, waving her bejeweled hand, "this is your second to last year of Divination. Some of you have proved that you possess the Gift, but others I have foreseen will fail my class this year," here the professor looked deep into the crystal ball she sat in front of, "and next year also. But not to worry! All but one of you will pass all your N.E.W.T. tests next year. And the Weasley brothers, meet Filch in his office for your detention tonight…" her voice trailed off. 

            "We will begin by reading the tea leaves, as usual," Professor said. "And then we shall move on to palmistry, then fire omens, and then crystal balls after"- The teacher was interrupted by Fred Weasley's hand shooting up into the air. He was almost standing on his seat, waving his hand back and forth. "Mr. Weasley?" Professor said, raising her eyebrows. Fred sat back down.

            "I was wondering if you knew who was going to win the Quidditch final," he said matter-of-factly. "Because if Slytherin wins…" Fred made a menacing gesture. Professor Trelawney looked at him for a moment over the rims of her enormous eyeglasses, and then she turned back to the class, ignoring his question. "You know what to do, now," Professor said. "Get a cup, come to me, and I will fill it. Then read the dregs using pages five and six of your texts, in pairs or groups of three, please."

             "Excellent," Fred hissed to Angelina. "Look what I've got!" He opened his bag and drew out a bottle of-

            "_Madame Rosmerta's Alcoholic Butterbeer_?" Angelina whispered. "Where the hell did you get that?" 

            "Can't say," Fred said, getting up to get his cup filled. Angelina followed. When they came back to the table Fred poured a little bit of it into his cup. "Daresay this will make me a little tipsy!"

            "Tipsier than usual, you mean?" Alicia broke in, sitting next to Angelina, who was flanked on the other side by Katie. 

            "Read mine first," Katie said. Alicia and Angelina bent over it. 

            "Well, you've got a kind of sun…'Great happiness'," Alicia read from the book. "That's it, Katie, you've got very uninteresting dregs. All pooled up on the bottom like that…"

            Fred hopped out of his chair and grabbed the cup, squishing the dregs around with his finger. Then he peered at it for a moment and shrieked, clutching his heart and falling to the ground. Professor Trelawney appeared out of the shadows in her very annoying way and stepped between Angelina's chair and Fred's overturned one to get to the redheaded boy lying on the floor. "Fred?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

            "Haven't you already foreseen it?" someone said from the other end of the room. Professor ignored the student and waved her hand in front of Fred's eyes.

            Fred raised his hand. "I…can't say it…" he said in a hoarse voice. "Katie's cup…oh dear!" he pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes. "My dear…the Grim!" he said dramatically. George buried his face in his arms to stifle his laughter as Professor Trelawney stood up. 

            "Detention, Fred Weasley!" she said. "And you too, George, for laughing at this horrible joke! The Grim is not funny! Meet me next Wednesday for your detention, in the Great Hall."

            "Professor, you can't do that!" Oliver said. 

            "Why not, Mr. Wood?" Professor Trelawney challenged.

            Oliver stood up. Angelina shook her head at him from across the room and drew her finger across her throat. Oliver looked at her for a moment and then continued, "We have Quidditch practice that night!"

            This announcement came as a surprise to every member of the team. "We do?" Fred asked, still lying on the floor. 

***

            "Well, that sucked," Alicia offered to break the silence. Oliver marched with a stony face with Fred one side and Angelina on he other.  Oliver said nothing. Angelina rested a comforting hand on his arm. 

            "Wood," she said quietly, "it's just one practice!" 

            Oliver exhaled but said nothing. Angelina patted his arm gently. "We'll still be starting earlier than all the other teams, if only by one day less- it won't make a difference. _Trust_ me. Slytherin isn't starting until… I don't know when, but come on. We can start on Thursday." 

            Oliver sighed again and looked at Angelina, a little smile on his face. Then they all went down the hall to Defense against the Dark Arts.


	4. Conversation With The Enemy

I just realized that this is most likely going to be a very long story…just warning you. 

Eek! I just found this totally delicious picture of Sean Biggerstaff on his website (www.seanbiggerstaff.com). HE IS SO HOT. I'll shut up now. 

**~*Chapter Four*~ **

Conversations With The Enemy  

            "Quidditch practice tonight, people!" Oliver said on one October Thursday at breakfast. The Weasley twins groaned simultaneously, looking very tired- Filch had had them working late for their detentions. "Come on," Oliver said, "first game of the season's versus Slytherin, and we have to beat them!"

            The twins grunted in reply. To them, Slytherin wasn't as big a threat as falling asleep in McGonagall's class.

***

            Oliver gave his usual speech that night, talking about how it was practically now or never for the Cup. "Three times a week!" Oliver announced. And so they started practicing, three times a week, rain or shine. 

            Halloween approached rapidly, and with it the first Hogsmeade visit of the year. People were going around the hallways with brighter smiles on their faces, anticipating the visit and the coming holiday. 

            "I have to hit Zonko's," remarked George on October 30th, shaking his head slightly. "I'm running low." 

            "And I need some more Choc…" Alicia failed to finish the sentence, daunted by Oliver's stare. 

            "I need to send a letter to Mum," Angelina said. "Things haven't been so well at home and I promised I would write."

            The next day the entire Quidditch team, minus Harry Potter who wasn't going on this visit, squeezed themselves into one of the horseless carriages. Angelina and Katie ended up sitting on the twins' laps, as there was really only room for four people in the carriages. 

            "Stop that, Fred!" Angelina ordered. Fred was attempting to bounce her up and down on his knee. "Damn, I'd rather sit on Oliver's lap and that's saying something." Oliver even cracked a smile, for once not thinking about the Quidditch Cup. Angelina couldn't help but smile back; Oliver in a good mood was a rare and glorious experience, a cause for celebration. 

            The carriages stopped at Hogsmeade to let the students off. Chaos immediately ensued, with Fred and George pushing a wide path through the crowd that let straight to Zonko's Joke Shop and the remainder of the Quidditch team trying to follow.  Fred pulled two Galleons out of his pocket and, thanks to Zonko's low prices, was able to purchase an enormous amount of items, claiming that he didn't need any more candy or "crap like that". The next stop was the infamous candy shop, Honeydukes, where Oliver kept a very close eye on his three Chasers.  Then Angelina darted into the post office, paying a few Sickles to send a letter to her mother. Finally, when everyone was finished, they went to the Three Broomsticks. 

            "I've missed this stuff," Oliver said, looking fondly at a tall mug of Carmel-colored butterbeer. The rest of the team agreed. The whole atmosphere of the place, the tinkling of the bells over the door, the slight murmur of talk from other tables, and the warm taste of butterbeer in your mouth made you feel a little sleepy. The team sat in silence for a few minutes, content with not talking. Looking around at Fred and George, with their half-closed eyes, and Alicia and Katie finishing off the last drops of their mugs, and then Oliver with a infrequent smile on his face made Angelina feel like this was her family and she had left home for two months on vacation to her house.    

At that moment, the bells above the door tinkled and Angelina was jerked out of her trance. Cedric Diggory walked in the door. He spotted Angelina and smiled at her, waving at her to come over. "I'll be right back," Angelina said, getting up from the table. Oliver looked after her for a few minutes with a disappointed look, but it was different then before, somehow…

            "Hi, Cedric," Angelina said. She noticed a wad of papers in his hand. "What's that?" 

            "Letters I have to send." Cedric looked at Angelina for a moment, his head cocked to the side. "Do you want to come with me?"

            "Sure," Angelina agreed, smiling at him and following him back out the door. 'I'll be right back,' she mouthed to the people she had left behind. Oliver acknowledged this with a curt nod of his head, and then he went back to staring into his butterbeer. The smile was gone. 

            Angelina walked into the post office while Cedric went up to the desk, digging some coins out of his pocket. Angelina reached into her pocket and drew out a treat she had bought back in Diagon Alley for her own owl. She fed it to one of the owls nearby. Another owl saw and flew over for a treat, and Angelina brought one out for him too. The owl flew away, back to his perch near the ceiling. A gust of wind blew through the building and the tags tied to the owls' feet fluttered in the breeze. 

            "Come on, Angelina, we can go sit on the bench outside and talk," said Cedric, pointing to a bench outside Zonko's. Angelina followed him across the street and sat next to him. 

            "So I hear you're playing Slytherin in you're first match," Cedric said. Angelina nodded. 

            "Unfortunately," she answered. "So that means that you're playing Ravenclaw. They've got a good Seeker."

            "Cho Chang," Cedric said, nodding. "Even on that Comet broom of hers, she's a challenge. She'll tail you until you see the Snitch and you have to dive."

            "I'm glad I'm not a Seeker," Angelina said. "Trying to find that sucker in bad weather must be a nightmare." 

            "It is."

            "Are you bothered about weight, because you're a Seeker and all?" she said out of the blue. Cedric shrugged.

            "You can't get too heavy, or else the broom can't maneuver as quickly."

            "Oh," Angelina murmured. "'Cause Wood pesters us all about not eating, Seeker and all. You know," Angelina realized, "he pesters us Chasers more than the Seeker himself."

            "Harry Potter," Cedric said. "He could probably play for England, when he's older and if he wants too. Its only once in a while you come upon a talented Seeker like that."

            "You know," he said after a pause, "we should talk more."    

            Angelina laughed. "Hogwarts is probably the worst place for dating. It's like, how 'bout I meet you in the Charms room? Eight o' clock? I promise, Flitwick won't notice!" Cedric laughed. 

            "Well, it's time to go," Cedric said reluctantly. "I'll be rooting for you…it's about time someone other than Slytherin wins that damned Cup." 

            "I agree," Angelina said as they walked towards the carriages. "'Bye." 

            "'Bye." Cedric walked further down the row and climbed into another carriage. Angelina found the one with her team members inside and climbed in.

            "Hi, you guys," she said, sitting on Fred's lap again. Oliver smiled tightly at her. "What's wrong you guys?" Angelina asked, bewildered. "Its just _Cedric_. I'm allowed to talk to him, aren't I?" She turned around to look at Fred. "Right, Fred?" 

            Fred bounced her on his knee. "It's Cedric, that's the problem- he's a _Hufflepuff_ and he can't be trusted."

            "Aren't Hufflepuff's supposed to be honest?" Katie asked.

            "I dunno- anyway, I'm trying to prove a point," Fred said. "Angelina, he's on an opposing team. For Quidditch? And, you can't possibly like him because he's just some pretty boy with no brains and good teeth."

            "Shut up," Alicia said.   

            Angelina looked across at Oliver, who was looking out the window with a faraway, almost sad look in his eyes. Angelina stopped him as the rest of the team went up into the castle. "Oliver?" she asked gently. "What's wrong?" 

            "Nothing," he said quickly. 

            "_Oliver_," Angelina pressed, giving him a friendly hug, "you can tell me." Then she took his hand and began walking with him towards the Great Hall.  

            "It's just"- Oliver said, stopping again outside the doors of the Hall. "So much pressure's on me to win the Cup, it's either this year or next year and we haven't got a Cup in seven years now. "

            "Don't worry, Oliver," Angelina comforted, reaching up to give him a friendly kiss on the cheek. "Everything will be okay." Oliver smiled a bit, and that was all it took to make her happy. 


	5. Saved By The Bludger

**~*Chapter Five*~**

Saved By The Bludger

            The Great Hall looked wonderful. Pumpkins were stacked in piles around the room, some carved into jack-o-lanterns with evil faces and candles glowing inside. A cloud of bats flew around the room. The usual floating candles were bewitched to shine orange and black. Angelina and the rest of the Quidditch team sat down happily, all earlier tension gone. "Look at the food!" Alicia exclaimed, and even Wood was in a better mood that he didn't notice it. The food looked even better than usual and Angelina suddenly felt empty despite all the candy and butterbeer she had downed that afternoon. Even Oliver ate with great enthusiasm and was just finishing his third slice of pumpkin pie when the ghosts glided out. The Gryffindor ghost did a reenactment of his 'beheading' to much applause, and even Moaning Myrtle made an appearance.  

            Almost an hour and a half later, the students got up and walked laughing down the halls to their dormitories. Angelina's spirits were soaring as she walked with Oliver, Katie, Alicia, Fred, and George, as usual. Harry Potter followed close behind them, as he was part of the team, but instead he talked mostly to Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. 

            There was a big crowd outside the Gryffindor portrait hole. "What the bloody hell is going on?" remarked Ron. "Why isn't anyone going in?" he tapped Fred on the shoulder. "Do you know why no one is going in?"

            "No," Fred replied just as his older brother, Percy shoved though the crowd, shouting something about being head boy. Angelina stepped aside to see what was going on. 

            "Someone go get Dumbledore!" Percy said, his voice urgent. As if on cue, Dumbledore appeared. The crowd parted and Angelina got a glance of what had happened. The Fat Lady's portrait was ripped into a million different pieces, and the Fat Lady herself had fled. Alicia's voice caught in her throat as she tugged wordlessly on Angelina's shoulder. 

            "Peeves," George murmured, looking up. 

            "Ashamed, Your Headship, sir." Peeves was saying. "Doesn't want to be seen. She's a horrible mess. Saw her running through the landscape on the fourth floor, sir, dodging between the trees. Crying something dreadful. Poor thing." 

            "Did she say who did it?" Dumbledore asked.

            "Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black," Peeves answered. 

***

            No one breathed for a moment. "Everyone to the Great Hall!" Dumbledore said. Percy led them back to the Hall where they were joined with the rest of the Houses. Alicia, Katie, and Angelina stood near the wall, as the boys dragged over six sleeping bags. They took off their robes and shoes and climbed into the sleeping bags with the rest of their clothes on. Katie was wiping away frightened tears, and George laid a hand on her shoulder for comfort. Fred was looking around the Hall at the rest of the students. Oliver was tapping his fingers on the floor and looking at the stormy Halloween ceiling. Angelina was looking at her fellow teammates, seeing fear in their eyes. She shuddered and covered herself with her robe for warmth. 

            "It'll be okay, Angelina," Fred said, himself with a distressed look on his face. "Don't worry." 

            "Yeah," George said, "you've got us to protect you!" 

            "That's comforting," Katie said sarcastically. 

***

            It took a long time for everyone to fall asleep, but they did somehow. The Gryffindors were allowed to return to their dormitories in the morning, only to find that the Fat Lady had been replaced with a medieval knight named Sir Cadogan. "Stand and fight, you mangy cur!" quickly became the most annoying phrase any of the Gryffindors had ever heard. 

            It came time to resume Quidditch practices, and the team increamed their schedule to four practices a week instead of three. The weather became stormier and stormier as the match grew nearer. One night Oliver stormed onto the field, looking very angry.

            "We're not playing Slytherin! We're playing Hufflepuff instead!"  Oliver cried. He said that Flint, the captain of the Slytherin team, claimed that his Seeker was injured. 

            "There's nothing wrong with Malfoy's arm!" Harry Potter cried angrily. 

            "We can't prove it," Oliver said grimly. "Hufflepuff's got a new captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory." While he said this, he looked sidelong at Angelina, who pretended to ignore him. The team kicked off on Madam Hooch's whistle, which had been ordered to oversee their practices since the Sirius Black episode. The team practiced new maneuvers, and changed their plays to fit Hufflepuff's style. After what seemed a day the team landed, tired and wet, and went to change in the locker rooms. 

            "Angelina," Oliver said, stopping her outside the locker rooms. The rain poured down his face and Angelina could barely see him, and he had to shout to be heard. 

            "DON'T LET YOUR FEELINGS FOR DIGGORY COMPLICATE THE MATCH!" Oliver yelled. 

            "WHO SAID I HAD FEELINGS FOR CEDRIC?"

            "I'm not blind, Angelina," Oliver said, lowering his tone. His eyes looked deeper than usual in the wind and rain. Angelina was about to reply when there was a great whooshing noise and a Bludger flew right past her head. Oliver jumped and caught it, struggling to hold it in his arms. Angelina reached down and put her hand on top of the living ball as Oliver went to get the box and strap it in. But, as soon as he turned back around to talk to her, Angelina was gone. 


	6. A Match To Remember

**~*Chapter Six*~ **

A Match To Remember 

~*You'll never see me fall apart/ In the words of a broken heart it's just emotions taking me over/ caught up in sorrow/ lost in the song/ but if you would come back/ come home to me darling/ don't you know there's nobody left in this world to hold me tight/ don't you know there's nobody left in this world to kiss goodnight/ Goodnight…*~~*Emotion*~*Destiny's Child*~

Oliver got up and locked the wooden box, dusting off his worn Quidditch practice robes and wiping rain out of his eyes. He squinted through the blur, searching for the blot of red that was Angelina. He saw something out of the corner of his eye but by the time he turned, it was gone. Oliver sighed and bit the inside of his lip until it bled. No one would ever know how he felt about Angelina. He would make sure of it.

***

Angelina ran behind the locker rooms and waited, peering over the side of the low building every now and then to see if Oliver was still there. The Gryffindor captain stood there for a long time, the rain running down his face and matting his short hair down against his scalp. Then, finally, he turned to go inside. Angelina waited a few minutes more, and then she slowly walked up to the castle. "Lumos," she whispered to her wand. She could make out the square figure of Madam Hooch silhouetted in the light. 

"Good job today," Madam Hooch said. Angelina nodded and, in no mood to talk, made her way past the flying instructor and up at least ten shifting flights of stairs until she reached the portrait of Sir Cadogan, who mysteriously failed to either 1. Challenge her to a duel, or 2. Call her a 'fair lady' and let her pass with a gracious wave of his hand. But Angelina didn't notice this. She walked into the common room and dragged an armchair into the corner of the room, seeming to be watching everything that was going on. But really, she was sitting there and thinking. 

Why had Oliver singled her out, when it was a well-known fact that Cedric Diggory was sought after by Katie and Alicia also, not to mention every other girl in the school? What was that strange look in his eyes when he said, 'don't let your feelings for Diggory complicate the match'? He had seemed so sad when he said, 'I'm not blind.' Angelina wasn't sure if she had liked the look in his eyes when he had said those things. Maybe it's your imagination, Angelina thought. You were out there in the wind and rain and everything.

Halfheartedly Angelina watched a furious game of wizard chess between the two Weasley twins, and then she climbed the stairs to the girls' dormitory and lay in bed, the wind roaring against the windows and causing the glass to shudder and rattle. The next day's Quidditch match was the last thing on her mind. 

***

The next morning dawned as stormy as the preceding night had been. Angelina nervously slipped into her Quidditch robes and picked up her broom. She climbed down the stairs to the common room, the roar of the wind and rain beating against the castle growing louder with every step. She was surprised to find Harry Potter staring into the fire, already up.

            "Something wrong, Harry?" Angelina asked, sitting in the chair across from him. "You're up early."

            "Peeves woke me up," Harry grumbled. 

            "Storm woke me," Angelina said. 

            Harry's glance jerked over to the staircases for a moment. "Be right back," he murmured. "CROOKSHANKS!"

            "Crookshanks?" Angelina asked curiously just as Oliver came haltingly down the stairs. He walked slowly across the common room and sat in a chair, drumming his fingers on a table and clutching his broom in his hand so that his knuckles turned white. 

            "Hermione's cat," Harry answered, plopping back down in the chair and covering his tired eyes with his hands. 

            "D'you need another review of the maneuvers, Harry?" Oliver asked, his face tense. Harry shook his head, absentmindedly stroking the end of the bristles on his Nimbus Two Thousand. Oliver breathed in a shaky breath, and then sighed. "Breakfast." Oliver called to the other members of the team, straggling down the stairs. Harry sat closer to the team this morning, next to Oliver whose plate was empty.

            "It's going to be a tough one," the Captain said, his face a light shade of green. 

            "Don't worry, Oliver," Alicia said, looking as nervous as he was. "It's only a bit of rain." A clap of thunder boomed overhead just as she finished her sentence. Fred, looking serious for once, buttered a piece of toast and left it on his plate, not having a bite.

            "Eat!" Oliver insisted. 

            "You try eating," George replied. "Anything that goes down is going to come right back up again, so what's the use?"

            "It's only Hufflepuff," Angelina reminded the team. "Only Hufflepuff."

            "Locker rooms," said Wood. 

            After failing to give his pre-game speech, the team's feeling of stomach sickness grew even more. They walked onto the field, immediately soaked to the bone. The rain crept through the thick fabric of the Quidditch robes and wet their clothes underneath. The Hufflepuffs were seven yellow blurs on the field as they kicked off. Katie started with the Quaffle, and from what Angelina could tell was making her way down the field with it. A whir past her left ear told Angelina that she had narrowly escaped being creamed by a Bludger. 

            "Damn things!" Fred called to her as he flew past, brandishing his club. Angelina squinted her eyes and could make out the three Hufflepuff chasers making their way down the field. She pulled in closer as Wood made an amazing save and the Quaffle was passed to her. Angelina zoomed forward, down the field towards the canary-yellow Keeper at the other end. She swerved right, then left, then faked a right and put it in the left hoop. 

            "Score…thirty…Gryffindor," was all that was heard of the commentary. The Quaffle was passed to a Hufflepuff keeper just as a Bludger flew under Angelina, skimming her foot. A few minutes later, a whistle barely penetrated the roaring wind. Angelina landed, mud splattering the hem of her robes and soaking her shoes through.

            "We're fifty points up," Oliver said. "But unless we get the Snitch soon, we'll be playing into the night."

            "I have no chance with these on," said Harry, taking off his glasses and rubbing them on his soaking robes. Hermione Granger appeared over his shoulder and took the glasses, tapping her wand against them and making them repel water.

            "Brilliant!" Wood cried. "Okay, team, lets go for it!" 

            Angelina kicked back off and flew around on the bottom of the field, watching her fellow Chasers up above. But something was happening! An eerie silence fell over the entire stadium. Angelina looked up. Harry was falling down, off his broom! Angelina kicked off and tried to catch him on her broom, but he hit the ground. Angelina landed beside him, just as she saw three tall dementors through the rain. 

            "Dementors!" she called to Oliver, who was running over to talk to Madam Hooch. She blew her whistle and the Hufflepuffs landed, Cedric Diggory with the Snitch in his hand. 


	7. Cedric and Angelina

**~*Chapter Seven*~**

Cedric and Angelina 

            Angelina stood outside the hospital wing, listening to the murmured voices inside. She sighed. Wood was still in the showers, and he had been in there for at least an hour now.

            This was the first time that Harry Potter ever lost a match, Angelina realized. She thought about the point margins while she drummed her fingers against the wall. Their chances for the Quidditch Cup were slim but they were there, and the team had overcome slim chances before. A squelching noise sounded from far down the hall and Angelina turned her head. Oliver was coming down the hallway, his hair dripping wet and flattened down on his forehead, half his shirt buttons undone. His head was bent towards the ground. Angelina walked towards him.

            "Why aren't you in there with the team?" Oliver asked. 

            "I could ask you the same question." Oliver was silent. "The broomstick. It's lost. It hit the Whomping Willow." 

            "How's Harry?" Oliver asked. 

            "He's awake," Angelina said, walking back down the hallway. Oliver absentmindedly fixed his shirt buttons and then put on his robes. 

            "It's the first time Harry's ever lost a match," Oliver said.

            "It had to happen some time," Angelina remarked. "It was too good to be true."

            "We can't have Harry flying on a Cleansweep." Oliver said. "Now that the Nimbus is gone…" His voice trailed off and he turned away from Angelina. She walked up to him and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, looking into his face. 

            "Are you alright?" she asked. Oliver sighed. 

            "I don't know," he said. "I'm going to the common room."

            "Don't you want to say hello to Harry?" Angelina asked. Oliver shrugged and continued down the hallway. 

***

            The weekend passed, with Harry never leaving the hospital wing. The next Saturday morning the team visited Harry again. Angelina stood next to Oliver, who was telling Harry that he didn't blame him. Angelina took Oliver's hand and squeezed it, giving him a reassuring kind of smile. 

***

            The end of November rolled around and the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team sat in the stadium, holding hands. Oliver kept bouncing up and down on his chair, humming recklessly and tapping his foot on the ground. He was squeezing Angelina's hand so tightly that her bones were pressed together.

            "Wood!" Angelina scolded. "Are you trying to break my hand?" 

            "YES!" Oliver yelled, jumping up. But it wasn't because he wanted to break Angelina's hand- it was because Ravenclaw had just beaten Hufflepuff.

***

            November passed, and December passed slowly. The Gryffindor Tower emptied itself, and Angelina went home on the train. She spent her vacation drumming her fingers on tables and waiting to return to Hogwarts. She took her broom home with her and spent all of her time practicing maneuvers around the trees in the woods near her home. On rainy days she would sit at the desk in her room with her quill poised above the parchment, but the words never came. She sighed and put the quill down. Maybe she just didn't have anything to say to Oliver.

            The journey to Platform Nine and ¾ was never a happier journey. Angelina met Alicia and Katie at the station near Hogsmeade and they met the rest of the team in the common room. They were grouped near the fireplace, huddling together. Angelina could see Harry's head under the rest of them.

            "Don't get excited, Oliver," Harry was saying. "I haven't got it anymore- McGonagall is convinced that it's jinxed."

            "What's jinxed?" Katie asked, pulling Wood aside.

            "Harry got a Firebolt for Christmas!" Oliver exclaimed.

            "No way," said Alicia.

            "That's so…a Firebolt!" said Angelina, awed. 

            "I have to go talk to Professor McGonagall. She confiscated it, she was sure it was jinxed with all this Sirius Black nonsense going about…a Firebolt!" Oliver shook his head and darted out of the portrait hole.

***

            Slytherin narrowly beat Ravenclaw in the beginning of the term. February came about and the next match was drawing nearer- Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw. Harry still hadn't gotten the Firebolt yet and the team took it upon themselves to bug McGonagall about it. Then, one day, Oliver came back from Transfiguration looking very happy. 

            "She's letting him have it back!" he exclaimed. Sure enough, a few minutes later Harry walked in holding the broom. 

            "Yes!" Fred exclaimed. "Now you can practice on it, to get ready for Saturday!"

            "Excellent," Wood said, his eyes glinting. "Ravenclaw's on Cleansweeps, they won't have a chance! Practice Friday night!" The team didn't even complain about this.

            The team played their best at practice. All thoughts of a Ravenclaw win were driven out of their minds by the speed and excellence of the Firebolt. Oliver announced that Cho Chang would be the Ravenclaw Seeker- but she was on a Comet Two Sixty and wouldn't have a chance. 

            The next day dawned sunny, with a slight breeze. The team walked out onto the field to tremendous applause. They kicked off fairly quickly and Harry zoomed about, looking for the Snitch. Katie soon scored the first goal of the match. Gryffindor was fifty points ahead of Ravenclaw when someone screamed. Angelina looked down, the Quaffle almost slipping from her hands. Three tall dementors stood at the end of the field. She gasped. Harry pulled out his wand and shot some silvery mist at them. The dementors toppled over just as Harry's hand closed around the Snitch. 

            Oliver yelled louder then the whole stadium put together. Angelina clapped her hands over her ears and flew over, hugging and kissing all the boys on the team. "Oliver, we won, we won!" she yelled. 

            "I know!" Oliver yelled back. She kissed him quickly on the cheek and then spun around. The stadium was emptying out onto the field as Angelina followed Oliver over to the dementors. Three Slytherins were disentangling themselves from the black robes. Oliver laughed. 

            "Party!" One of the Weasley twins yelled. The party, indeed, went on all day. Bags and bags of sweets appeared. Angelina wondered briefly why Hermione Granger wasn't joining in. She was immersed in a book for Muggle Studies. 

            Oliver was busy talking about the match. Angelina sat behind him and listened, absentmindedly resting her hand on his shoulder while she drank butterbeer and gossiped with Katie and Angelina. 

            "I heard Fred and George's older brother Percy is going out with that Penelope Clearwater," Katie said, wrinkling her nose. "Even he could do better." 

            Alicia agreed and Angelina nodded her head, sitting back against her chair and setting the empty bottle down on the table. She sat there for a while, listening to Alicia and Katie talk. 

            "Oy, Angelina!" Fred yelled. "A _Hufflepuff's _here to see you."

            "Don't go!" George cried dramatically. "It will lead you to your death!"

            Angelina ignored them and pushed open the portrait hall. To her surprise, Cedric Diggory stood outside, holding a single rose. She raised her eyebrows as she shut the portrait of Sir Cadogan behind her.

            "Hi, Angelina," Cedric said a bit awkwardly. "You did a great job at the match today. I just brought this for you," he said, holding out the rose. It was blood red, with streaks of pink near the tops of the petals.

            "It's beautiful," Angelina murmured. "Thank you." 

            "I just…" Cedric shoved his hands into his pockets and tapped his foot on the floor. Sir Cadogan muttered to himself in the portrait. "I just wanted to know if you wanted to…go somewhere, sometime, I mean, you don't have to but"-

            "I'd love to go out with you," Angelina blurted out, twirling the rose in her hands. Cedric smiled a big, wonderful smile.

            "That's great!" he said, still grinning broadly. "But, I have to go now, it's getting late." He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "I'll see you," he said.  

            "Bye," Angelina whispered as Cedric walked away, blending into the shadows. Then he turned a corner. Angelina twirled the flower around her fingers like a baton, admiring the unusual coloring of the petals. She walked inside, swinging the portrait open and sitting back down in the chair.

            "Hey, Angelina," Alicia said curiously. "Where'd you get the rose?" 

            "Cedric Diggory gave it to me," Angelina said matter-of-factly. 

            Katie squealed. "Really? You're going out with Cedric Diggory?"

            "_The _Cedric Diggory?" 

            "There's only one Cedric Diggory that I know!" Angelina said, laughing. 

            The portrait hole swung open. "Alright," Professor McGonagall said, her hands on her hips. "_Bedtime. _Now!" The Weasley twin's groan was silenced with a glare, and the Gryffindor students filed up the stairs, muttering and laughing at the same time. Angelina slipped the rose into a water-filled vase and went to sleep, dreaming of Cedric. 


	8. The Stupidity of Neville Longbottom

**~*Chapter Eight*~ **

The Stupidity of Neville Longbottom

            Angelina awoke with a start. Feet pounded outside. She could see Alicia wake up in the darkness, sitting up in her bed. "What was that?" Katie asked, stepping into her slippers. Angelina slid out of bed and opened the door. The common room was filled and noisy. She ran down the stairs up to Oliver, who was standing by the fire.

            "Oliver!" she asked. "What's going on?" 

            Oliver turned around. For a moment he looked surprised, then embarrassed. Angelina realized she was wearing her camisole tank top that she only wore to bed. She shrugged her shoulders self-consciously. Wood, the gentleman he was, didn't mention it.             

            "I don't know," he answered, looking around the common room. Angelina ran a hand through her hair as Fred Weasley came bounding down the steps.

            "Excellent!" he exclaimed. "Are we carrying on?" 

            Percy followed him down the stairs, fumbling with his Head Boy badge and looking exasperated. "What's going on?" he demanded. "Everybody back upstairs, McGonagall told you to go to bed!" 

            "Sirius Black!" said Ron Weasley, looking paler than usual. "Woke me up! He had a knife!" 

            Percy looked like he had been slapped. "Now, Ron," he chastised his brother, "That's impossible." 

            Just then, Professor McGonagall slammed through the portrait hole. "That's enough!" she shrieked. "Back to bed, all of you! Percy!" she said threateningly. 

            Percy defended himself against the raging professor. She turned on the rest of the group. 

            "IT WASN'T A NIGHTMARE! PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP, AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME! WITH A KNIFE!" Ron shouted. Professor looked angry and confused. 

            "It's impossible," she said. "He couldn't have gotten in through the portrait hole."

            "Ask Sir Cadogan!" Ron insisted. "Ask him!"

            Professor McGonagall looked torn for a moment. Then she slowly pushed her way out of the portrait hole. 

            "Did you just let a man in, Sir Cadogan? Did you just let someone into the tower?"

            "Yes, my lady!" the knight replied. Angelina tightened her hold on Oliver's arm. Oliver squeezed back, scarcely breathing. 

            "Did he have the password?" Professor McGonagall said incredulously.

            "Indeed, he read them off a paper!" Sir Cadogan said. 

            Professor McGonagall stepped back through the portrait hole. "Which stupid, idiotic person wrote down the passwords _and then lost them?_"

            A third year named Neville Longbottom stepped forward, gnawing on his fingernails. Angelina sank down in a chair, Oliver sitting down on the floor next to her. Fred and George sat in the chairs next to her and Alicia and Katie remained standing. The fire crackled and a piece of wood splintered.

***

            "He's off his rocker." Fred remarked, shaking his head. Angelina stood next to him. They were watching Professor Flitwick show a large picture of Sirius Black to the two front doors. 

            "Everyone's so uptight these days," Angelina said, looking a bit tense herself. 

            "I know a cure for that," Fred said. He stood there for a moment, looking down at her with a mischievous look in his eyes. Then he reached down and put his arms around her waist. They stood there like that for a moment. Angelina looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. Then Fred grinned.

            "No!" Angelina shrieked as Fred tickled her. "Don't do that!" 

            "Do what?" Fred asked innocently. Angelina clutched at her sides, laughing and leaning her head against Fred's chest. 

            "I think you're the one that's off your rocker," Angelina said. "Tickling a lady!"

            "You're no lady."

            "Sir Cadogan thinks differently."  
            "Screw Sir Cadogan."

            "I'm so glad they fired him," Angelina said as they walked back towards the Gryffindor Tower.

            "Trolls aren't much better." 

            "Even trolls are better than Sir Cadogan," Angelina said, accidentally stepping on Ms. Norris's tail. The cat squealed. 

            "RUN!" Fred yelled. Angelina sprinted down the hall, with Fred close behind her. They could hear Filch yelling in the distance. Angelina looked back and saw the caretaker, waving a hammer. She shrieked and laughed at the same time, panting the password to the portrait hole and jumping inside, collapsing just below the hole and laughing. Fred wiped a tear from his eye. "He'll be after us for the rest of the year," he said.

            "The rest of next year, too," Angelina laughed.

            His attention caught by the noise, Oliver strode over to them, an angry scowl on his face.

            "What's wrong with you?" Fred asked sympathetically. 

            "You're late," Oliver said tersely. 

            "Late for what?" asked Angelina.

            "QUIDDITCH PRACTICE!" Oliver yelled, throwing his arms up into the air.

            "We don't have practice tonight, Oliver," Fred corrected.

            "Yes, we do," Oliver said.

            "No, we don't," Fred insisted. 

            "Yes, we do."

            "No"-

            "SHUT UP! Oliver's the captain, he knows when practice is and when it isn't!" Angelina shouted, exasperated. "Really, you too! But, Oliver, you never said anything about practice tonight."

            "Well, if you two hadn't been FROLICKING out in the HALLWAY then you would have been HERE to hear the ANNOUNCEMENT!" Oliver thundered. 

            "What announcement?" Oliver looked infuriated.

            "WE HAVE PRACTICE TONIGHT, AND TOMORROW, AND THE NEXT DAY, AND THE NEXT DAY, AND EVERY DAY AFTER THAT!" Wood yelled.

            "But that's every night!" realized Fred. 

            "And we weren't frolicking," said Angelina. 

            "I don't care _what_ you were doing," Oliver said, sounding very tired. "But the finals against Slytherin and we have to start practicing now."

            "The finals aren't until after Easter!" Fred shouted, outraged. "We just got back from Christmas!"

            "But we have to win the Cup!" Oliver yelled.

            "I think you two have to go get some sleep," Angelina said, standing up and brushing herself off. 

            "But what about practice?" Oliver shouted as she walked away. 

***

            Angelina pushed her way out of the portrait hole and walked up to the Owlery to visit her own owl. The owl had been a gift from her aunt, dubbed 'Pinky' by her little cousin when Angelina couldn't think of a name.

            "Pinky!" Angelina called, looking up at the walls and searching for the tawny owl. The owl came swooping down. Something fluttered behind it. "What's that, Pinky?" Angelina asked, feeling silly calling the owl 'Pinky.' But there was nothing that could be done- the owl wouldn't answer to anything else.

            Angelina pulled the piece of parchment off the owl's leg and then let her go after feeding her a treat. She walked down the hallways, looking at the note. 

            Dear Angelina,

              The crystal ball has informed me that there's another Hogsmeade visit coming up…meet me in the Three Broomsticks?

       -Cedric 

       Angelina folded the note, smiling in spite of herself.  


	9. The Kiss

A/N- finally! Some Cedric/Angelina! This is what the whole story is about, people, and I didn't get around to it until chapter nine! *Smacks herself* Thanks to the FIVE people who reviewed! I love all FIVE of you!!! *Cough* I want more reviews *cough*

**~*Chapter Nine*~**

The Kiss   

            Angelina entered the Three Broomsticks, touching her hair nervously. She had spent extra time on it this morning. She had used half a bottle of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it. 

            She stood by the door and looked around the pub, tapping her foot. Madam Rosmerta hurried past, carrying a tray of mugs filled with butterbeer to an important looking man sitting in the corner. Then, Angelina saw Cedric sitting way in the back, looking around curiously with two mugs of butterbeer in front of him. She smiled and walked over. 

            "Hi, Cedric," she said, sitting down in the chair across from him. Cedric smiled and pushed one of the mugs over. Angelina sipped it gratefully. 

            "Hi, Angelina," Cedric answered. He wrapped his hands around the mug in front of him and smiled at her over it. Angelina set her own mug down, the butterbeer sloshing against the sides and foaming at the surface. She couldn't think of anything to say, besides, 'nice weather we're having.' She grinned uneasily.

            "That must have been so scary for you, with the whole Sirius Black thing," Cedric said, shaking his head and looking into his drink, and then back up at her. "What happened? To you, I mean." 

            "Well, I heard lots of noise outside, so I got up and ran downstairs. First person I saw was Oliver"-

            "Oliver?" Cedric asked.

            "Wood, you know, Oliver Wood, our captain," Angelina explained.

            "Oh," Cedric said.

            "Anyway, I went to Oliver and asked him what was going on. He didn't know. Then Ron Weasley came downstairs and said that Sirius Black had come into their room with a knife. Then Professor McGonagall came in and started yelling at us because she thought we were continuing the party- you know, we had a party after we won the match- and then Ron told her the story. Then she went outside and asked Sir Cadogan if he had let a man in."

            "What happened?"

            "Some stupid third year named Neville Longbottom had written down the passwords and left them lying around," Angelina answered. Cedric shook his head.

            "I'd like to know what that madman is after," Cedric said, referring to Sirius Black. "None of you Gryffindors are safe, then. I'm worried about you," Cedric said, looking into Angelina's eyes. Angelina shifted in her seat but held his gaze. She smiled awkwardly.

            "Thanks," she said. Her voice sounded pathetic and small. She cursed herself.

            "I don't know," Cedric said. "All that stuff with the Chamber of Secrets last year, and now this…" Cedric's voice trailed off and the two sat in silence for a little while.

            "Hogwarts is the worst place to date," Cedric said after a long pause. "There's nowhere that you can be…alone." Cedric met her eyes then. Angelina's eyes widened. What was he suggesting? She laughed nervously. 

            "Yeah," she said. The door swung open and the place suddenly got noisier- Fred, George, and Oliver had arrived. Angelina turned her head towards the wall so that they wouldn't see her. 

            "What's wrong?" Cedric asked, looking curiously towards the three rascals standing in the front of the room. 

            "If they see me with you"- Angelina began. But it was too late.

            "Hey, there's Angelina!" Fred yelled. Heads wheeled around all through the restaurant, looking for this mysterious Angelina. Angelina sighed and resigned herself to a night of torture. 

            "Hi guys," she said, exasperated. Fred and George trooped across the restaurant and pulled up chairs, cramming themselves into the secluded corner. Oliver followed slowly behind them, his eyes passing from Angelina to Cedric and then back.

            "Fred, George," Oliver said quietly, tapping the twins on the shoulder. "Maybe we should go."

            "Why, Oliver?" George asked, looking at Angelina.

            "Because," Oliver said, his voice tense, "just…because. Come on."

            "But, Oliver"-

            "COME ON." Oliver made his way back around the tables and through the pub, slamming the door open. Fred shrugged and followed him, leaving George to put back the chairs.

            "Maybe we should go, too," Cedric suggested. "I have some things to post."

            "What happened to your owl?" Angelina asked, recalling the snowy owl that had dropped mail at Cedric's place many times.

            "Died. Got sick," Cedric answered, taking out a couple Knuts and a Sickle and leaving them on the table next to the half-empty mugs of butterbeer. They made their way out of the pub and down the street towards the post office. Angelina walked around the great circular room, the owls looking down at her with their big eyes. A Scop owl flew down from its ceiling perch and sat on her shoulder. Angelina scooped it into her hand as Cedric walked over to her. The thick wad of letters was gone and he had his hands shoved deep into his pockets. 

            "Look at this owl," Angelina said, taking one of Cedric's hands out of his pockets and setting the bird down in the middle of his palm. Angelina let her hand rest there for a moment, in his. The tips of her fingers tingled where they brushed Cedric's skin. The owl flew back up to its perch, looping in the air and then setting itself down to preen. Angelina removed her hand from Cedric's as they walked out of the post office. They headed towards the hill that the Shrieking Shack was set on, and they sat in the grass. Angelina picked up a daisy and began to pick off the petals.             "I loved coming to this place when I was a kid," Cedric said, looking at the abandoned shack. "When I came here on a full moon, there would be these unearthly shrieks. But then I came back one 'moon, and there was no sound."

            "I heard the weirdest legend about this place," Angelina said. Cedric lied back on the grass and put his hands behind his head. 

            "What was it?"

            "I forget," Angelina tried to remember. "Something about a widow, something like that…"

            "Oh, I remember that one!" Cedric said. "My mother would tell it to me all the time. The legend was that there was a woman. Her parents made her marry a powerful man, a Count, I think, but the woman was in love with a different man, a commoner. They would come here at the full moon to 'celebrate their love,' I suppose. Then the man was killed but the woman's husband. She came up here, to the shack, and stabbed herself to death. That's what I heard, anyway," Cedric said. 

            "That's so sad," Angelina murmured, lying back on the grass beside Cedric. "I'm sorry about Fred and George and Oliver," she said after a moment. "The twins can be dense sometimes, but Cedric notices lots of stuff about things"- she broke off. She was going to say, 'things that he cares about.' _Oliver doesn't care about me, not that way_, Angelina told herself. _That's impossible_. 

            "It's okay," Cedric said quietly. Then he sat up quickly. "It's time to go," he said regretfully. Then he helped Angelina up and held her hand all the way down to the carriages. Her hand fit in his perfectly. His touch was smooth and warm. 

            Suddenly, Cedric pulled her behind Zonko's. "What are you doing?" Angelina asked, smiling. Cedric smiled back. 

            "Unless you don't usually kiss on a first date…I'd like to say goodbye," Cedric said.

            "Okay," Angelina said. Her heart pounded wildly, doing some kind of wild African dance around her chest. Cedric slowly slid his arms around her waist, slowly pulling her towards him. Then his lips were on hers. Angelina almost laughed out loud. Of course she had kissed boys before, but this was different. It was…special.

            His lips were as warm as his hands, which were caressing the small of her back at the moment. Finally he pulled away reluctantly.

            "We do have to go now," he said. 

            "Yeah," Angelina agreed. She followed Cedric down to the carriages. "Bye," she whispered. Cedric gave her another quick kiss before she climbed into her usual carriage. George whistled as she climbed in and sat next to him.

            "Finally I don't have to sit on anyone else's lap," Angelina joked.

            "You kissed Cedric!" Alicia squealed.   

            "What?" Oliver asked as he climbed in.

            "All you boys, go find your own carriage," Katie ordered. "We have to talk to Angelina." The boys marched away, scowling, to the end of the line. Alicia squealed again. 

            "You kissed Cedric!" she repeated.

            "Is he good?" Katie asked.

            "Katie!" Angelina said, scandalized.

            "Well, is he?" 

            "Yes," Angelina admitted.

            "Ooh!" Alicia said. "You're going out with Cedric!"

            "You're an item."  
            "An _item_!"

            "Calm down, Alicia!" Angelina said. "Yes, I kissed Cedric, and yes, it was good, but really, relax!"

            "But you kissed _Cedric_. That's great!" Alicia sighed and leaned back against her seat, dreamily staring into space. Angelina smiled. It _was_ great. 


	10. The Depths of the Orb

**~*Chapter Ten*~ **

The Depths of the Orb 

            "Today we will begin looking into the crystalline depths of the mysterious and compelling Orb," Professor Trelawney announced, stepping out of the shadows. She sank down into her chair in front of the fire, her many bracelets clicking on her arm. Fred and George sniggered and whispered to each other. "To See you must relax the eyes and the conscience. That will relax the Inner Eye and possibly allow you to See. Now, look into the Orb…" 

             Angelina stared into the Orb, trying to keep her mind clear. That was hard, when you were in the same class as Fred and George Weasley, though. Their snickers and whispered jokes made her laugh and 'clouded her Inner Eye,' as Trelawney would say.

            Alicia tapped her painted fingernails on the table as she bent over her Orb. "Nothing!" she said, exasperated. Katie raised her brows as she read a novel under the table. 

            The room went quiet, in a strange sort of way- Fred's mouth moved but there was no sound, the pages of Katie's book were silent, and the tapping of fingernails on the table ceased. Angelina stared intently into the Orb. Her mind was void of all thought. Shadows began to penetrate the milky mists inside the Orb. One figure sharpened at the edges and then went out of focus again. Angelina leaned forward slightly. The figure came into focus once more. _Cedric!_ Angelina realized, her heart beginning its dance again. Cedric spun into the center of the Orb and then stopped. He was waving something- his wand! Fire covered him and when it went out, there were two different objects- a cauldron and a strange figure. The strange figure was in the cauldron. Far in the distance, someone screamed. Then the image disappeared. She saw herself kissing Cedric in Hogsmeade, and then she saw Oliver's face, and then Fred's. She saw herself dancing- dancing? - With Fred, somewhere. She saw the smoky figures of a Quidditch game. 

            Someone was tapping her shoulder. Angelina shook her head. The classroom was empty, except for a concerned looking Alicia. "What's up, Angelina?" her friend asked. "You were in some kind of trance!"

            "She Saw," pronounced Professor Trelawney as she materialized by the fire. "Few your age can See, Miss Johnson. I believe that we can expect good things from you in the future. I will not ask you what you Saw, for what you See is for yourself."

            "Oh," Angelina said, easing off the chair and hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. "Thanks, Professor," she said as she walked over to the shining silver ladder that descended out of the classroom. Alicia scooped her copy of _Unfogging the Future _off the wooden table and followed Angelina down the ladder.  

            "Did you see anything good?" Alicia asked as she climbed down.

            "I saw a Quidditch game, but I don't really remember anything else," Angelina lied.

            "We're we winning?"

            "I don't know, Alicia!" Angelina said, a bit exasperated. Seeing wasn't that big of a deal. 

            Fred and George were waiting for them around the corner. "So, did you See?" George asked as they fell into step beside the two girls.

            "Of course she Saw," Fred said, adapting Professor Trelawney's misty voice. "She saw great things, as the Gryffindor House winning the Quidditch Cup, and Gryffindor House winning the House Cup, and Filch getting fired, and Mrs. Norris dying, and Cedric Diggory dying"-

            "Fred!" Angelina cried, insulted. 

             "Face it, Angel," Fred said, returning to his regular tone, "Your boyfriend is an airhead."

            "Someone sounds jealous," Alicia teased. Fred turned redder than usual.

            "Don't call me Angel," Angelina ordered as she climbed through the portrait hole.

            Katie was waiting in the common room. "Sorry I didn't wait for you, Angelina, but I really had to finish this damned Potions essay. Three feet long!" Katie got out her ruler and placed it on the parchment, flipping it over twice. "I'm still twelve inches short!" Katie complained. 

            "That's a whole foot!" realized Alicia.

            "Here," George said, pulling a wrinkled old parchment out of his bag. "I finished mine ages ago."

            "Look at all the spelling mistakes!" Alicia said, leaning over Katie to look at the parchment. 

            "Hey, look what I picked up in Charms," Fred smirked and pulled out his wand, pointing it at George's paper. "_Spellium Correctius_!" Fred waved the wand and purple sparks shot out and ignited the parchment.

            "FRED!" Katie and George cried simultaneously. 

            "Never fear," Fred said, pulling an equally old and wrinkled parchment out of his own bag. "Always have a backup copy."

            George pulled out his wand and ignited the paper. Fred yelped and dropped the paper. Angelina stamped it out with her foot. 

            "Smart," she said sarcastically. "Now you both have to do it over. Better get to work!" she added with a sly smile.

            "Will you let me copy? I'll love you forever!" Fred pleaded.

            "No."

            "Please?" 

            "Don't sing!" 

            "I…will always love you!" Fred sang loudly, bending down on one knee. Katie clamped her hands over her ears. Alicia tried to keep from laughing. Angelina sighed.

            "Angel baby, will you marry me?" Fred asked. 

            "No," Angelina said.

            "Cooties!" Katie cried.

            "Don't worry!" Fred shouted, standing back up and planting a sloppy kiss on Angelina's cheek. "I'll love you anyway."

            "Oh no." Fred swept Angelina up into his arms and pranced around the common room. Hermione even stopped working to stare at them. 

            "Put me down, Fred!" Angelina squealed, laughing so hard she could barely breathe. 

            "Only if you give me a kiss, my lady!" Fred said.

            "Ooh," Katie said.

            "Wait till Cedric finds out!" Alicia said.

            "Don't tell him," Angelina said, looking at her friends. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and kissed Fred quickly. He dropped her onto a chair by the fire and sighed.

            "Now, I will be happy forever!" he said dreamily. 

            "Great," Angelina said sarcastically, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "I'll never kiss you again, you brute!"

            "I'll take that as a compliment," Fred said gallantly. Angelina smiled. 

            The portrait hole swung open and a very tired looking Oliver Wood climbed in. He hoisted his bag onto a table and dropped into the chair next to Angelina's. "Damn Divination." He mumbled. "I'll never get it." 

            "What's going on, Oliver?" Angelina asked, pushing Fred away from her. 

            "Trelawney says I don't have clairvoyant vibrations or whatever," Oliver said, putting a hand on his forehead.

            "Feel sick?" Angelina asked.

            "I have a cure for that," said Fred, pulling out a Dungbomb.

            "That's not funny, Fred," Angelina warned. Fred put the bomb back in his pocket and slouched away. Angelina turned back to Oliver. "Are you not feeling well, Oliver?" she put her hand on his forehead. "Maybe it's just too much work you're doing," Angelina suggested, leaning back into her chair. "You don't have a fever. Maybe you should go to bed." Angelina said.     

            "No!" Oliver shouted, jumping up. "There's Quidditch practice tonight!"  
            Angelina sighed. 


	11. In the Astronomy Tower

**~*Chapter Eleven*~**

In the Astronomy Tower 

            The Easter holidays were soon upon the castle, and it was a special time of year even though the professors didn't go out of their way to decorate the castle. The biggest event, for the rest of the school, was when Fred and George transfixed Snape into a pink Easter Bunny costume. Gryffindor lost a hundred points that day (fifty for each of them) but the House laughed it off and spent the rest of the year patting Fred and George on the back for their little stunt.

            However, the things that stood out in Angelina Johnson's mind twenty years later was her many meetings with Cedric during the precious days without professors. On the first day of the vacation, Cedric came to the portrait hole.

            "Oy, Angelina!" Fred called across the common room. "There's a wee Hufflepuff here to see you!"

            "Thanks, Fred!" Angelina called down from her room. "Tell Cedric I'll be right there!" she fixed her hair and then flew down the stairs and out the portrait hole.

            Alicia sighed. "They make such a cute couple!" she said dreamily. Katie agreed.

            "Stupid brainless git," Oliver muttered from behind a Quidditch magazine.

***

            Angelina followed Cedric up to the Astronomy tower. "Isn't this off-limits?" Angelina giggled as she climbed the spiral steps behind Cedric. Small triangle windows were cut into the stone now and then. 

            "Don't be stupid," Cedric said. "Of course it's off limits." Angelina laughed and Cedric pulled her onto the platform at the top of the tower. The windows here were still triangular, but they were wide and stretched from the ceiling to the floor. A thin railing ran around the room to prevent students from falling off. A strong breeze assaulted the two of them as they stood up. 

            "Look at the view," Cedric said, waving her over to one of the windows. Angelina approached cautiously and set her hands firmly on the railing before she looked over.

            She gasped. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The lawns rolled off in gentle hills towards the distance, spotted with dandelions and daisies. The lake sparkled in the springtime sun, and the water rippled gently towards the sandy shores. Thick woods spread from the edge of the lawns into the distance, where a London was faintly visible, shining silver against the greenery. Hogsmeade looked like a picturesque village from up here. Smoke spiraled gently from the chimney of the Three Broomsticks, and even the Shrieking Shack looked in place from up here.

            "Beautiful, isn't it?" Cedric said, voicing her thoughts. 

            "When did you find this place?" Angelina breathed.

            "Well, it's kind of a public thing because this _is _the Astronomy Tower and all," Cedric said, smiling. "But, I personally discovered this when I set out for a midnight tour of the castle in a bout of rule breaking when I was in my second year. I would come up here all the time and write, or just think. Look at Hagrid's cabin," Cedric pointed towards the little cottage. "It's so"-

            "Tiny!" Angelina said, finishing his sentence. Cedric turned to smile at her. They stood there for a while, pressed close to each other, Cedric's arm around Angelina's waist. 

            "A class starts here in five minutes, you know," Cedric murmured. Angelina sighed. 

            "I guess this place is off limits now, then," she said, a regretful tone in his voice. 

            "Mmm." Cedric's words were lost as he pressed his lips into Angelina's hair.

            "Professor!" A voice called. Angelina froze. Cedric's arm grew stiff and tense around her waist.

            "Professor!" They called again. There were footsteps on the stairs and the wide wooden door swung open. Percy Weasley stood there in the doorway. When he saw Cedric and Angelina like that, with Angelina's head against Cedric's chest and Cedric kissing her hair, he froze and stared at them for a moment.

            "This place is off limits," Percy said finally. 

            "We're leaving," Cedric said, removing his arm from Angelina's waist.

            "You're Cedric Diggory, aren't you? From Hufflepuff?" Percy asked. His Head Boy badge glinted in the sun. 

            "Yes," Cedric answered.

            "Then, ten points from Hufflepuff. And from Gryffindor then too, Angelina. Go back to your classes, now, and I suggest you don't come back here unless you're here to _learn_. Good day."

            Cedric and Angelina hurried down the stairs before more students could come. They burst out into the main hallway. 

            "That Percy's a stiff," Cedric said. 

            "I agree," Angelina said. "It's a wonder Fred and George could have a brother like that. They're so funny and happy and full of life, and then Percy is just…boring and stiff, as you said."

            "I wish we could go outside," Cedric said, looking wistfully towards the two front doors. 

            Angelina agreed. "But there's the dementors."

            "I miss the sunlight. I feel like old greasy pale Snape, locked in a dungeon all day long."

            "Yeah," Angelina said. Then she caught a glimpse of her watch. "Damn!" she said, "Quidditch practice! I have to go!" She leaned up to give Cedric a quick kiss and then she ran off towards the common room to get her broom.   

***

            "Where have you been?" Oliver yelled as Angelina sprinted across the field, clutching a stitch in her side. The other members of the team were in the air, the two Chasers passing the Quaffle back and forth. Katie threw it in one of the large yellow hoops.

            "They can't practice maneuvers without a Keeper!" Oliver shouted. "The finals are coming and they're sooner then you realize!"        

            "Oliver!" Angelina said, laying a hand on Oliver's shoulder. Oliver's whole face tensed up and he looked like he was going to have a nervous breakdown, or cry, or something horrible like that.

            "Oh, Wood," Angelina said, shaking her head and wrapping Oliver in a hug. He shook slightly as she held him, and Angelina had the sudden impulse to rock him back and forth like a child. "Calm down, Oliver," she soothed. Then she grinned. "Would you like me to sing you a lullaby?" 

            "No," Oliver answered, his head buried in her neck.

            "Rockabye baby…" Angelina sang. 

            "No!" Oliver said, pulling away slightly. He grinned a bit and picked up his broom. "Sorry," he said, "I'm just a little uptight these days."

            "A _little_? That's an over-understatement!" Angelina smiled at him as she mounted her broom and kicked off. Oliver grinned back and flew over to the goal posts. Angelina joined Katie and Alicia, who grinned at her with knowing looks.

            "What?" Angelina asked.

            "You've been with Cedric, haven't you?" Alicia asked.

            Angelina shrugged. 

            "Come on, I've never seen you look so happy," Katie teased. "He kissed her," she whispered to Alicia.

            "I think they did more than kiss," Alicia said.

            "Shut up, you guys," Angelina said. Katie through the Quaffle at her head, but it missed by a mile. Fred cracked at it with his bat and Oliver called a time out, yelling at the team and smiling at the same time. 


	12. The Cup, Finally

**~*Chapter Twelve*~ **

The Cup, Finally 

            Oliver strode into the girls dormitory and shamelessly barged into the room that Angelina, Katie, Alicia, and two other girls shared. "Rise and shine!" he called, looking tense. Angelina opened her eyes immediately. She had barely slept. Today was the day of the Quidditch final. They had practiced until midnight last night and still Angelina hadn't slept.

            June and Amber, the two other roommates, raised their heads from the pillows. They're expressions turned to shocked when they realized that Oliver Wood was standing in their room. Amber burrowed under her covers. June pushed back the covers and swung her legs over the side of her bed.

            "Hi, Wood," she said, batting her eyelashes at him. Alicia groaned and got out of bed.

            "Get out, Wood, I have to get dressed," she ordered. Oliver scurried out of the room. "Sheesh," Alicia said, changing into her Quidditch robes, "he just can't handle the thought of his naked teammates."

            "Shove it, Alicia," Angelina said, tapping her fingertips against the dew-covered window. 

            Katie poked her head out from under the covers. "Is it morning?" she asked, yawning.

            "No," Alicia said. "Go back to sleep."

            Katie went back to sleep.

            "No!" Angelina said, pulling off Katie's blankets. "Get up. Slytherin is waiting."

            Katie groaned and fell out of bed. Angelina gave up and joined Oliver at the breakfast table.

            "Eat, eat!" Oliver was telling Fred and George. Oliver reached over and put some more scrambled eggs on George's plate. George dumped the eggs on Fred's plate, which dumped them on Oliver's plate. Oliver didn't touch them. 

            "Eat!" he urged as Angelina sat down.

            "No," Alicia replied, sitting down at her usual spot.

            "Time to go," Oliver said as Katie slumped down into her chair.

            "But I'm hungry!" Katie whined.

            "Too late now," Oliver said. Katie crammed some eggs into her mouth and followed the team out to the field. Oliver went into the locker rooms. The team sat for twenty minutes on the bench. Fred fell asleep and slumped against Angelina, who was beside him. Angelina nervously patted his head. 

            "Fred, wake up," Oliver ordered. "It's time to go."

            Fred snored. Oliver threw his club at his head. Fred woke up. 

            Most of the crowd was dressed in red and waving Gryffindor banners. The other part of the crowd was dressed in green and waving banners with the snake emblem on it in silver. Lee Jordan announced their names. Wood and Flint shook hands, their knuckles white. Madam Hooch blew the whistle.

            The wind whipped Angelina's hair around her face. Alicia took the Quaffle and flew up the field. A Slytherin chaser intercepted it and flew back down towards Wood, his eyes glinting with malice. George banged a Bludger straight at him, though, and he dropped the Quaffle. Angelina swooped down, stretching out her arms, feeling the rush of exhilaration- and the Quaffle dropped into her outstretched arms. She held it in the crook of her elbow and held onto her broom with the other as she leaned low, speeding towards the goal posts. She swerved around a Slytherin and around a Bludger. Fred blew around and blasted it towards the Slytherin. He looped around in the air to avoid it. Angelina threw the Quaffle with all her strength, and the Slytherin Keeper wasn't fast enough. She scored. 

            "OUCH!" Angelina yelled as Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, came barreling out of nowhere. He crashed into her, sending her careening back towards the goal posts. She almost slipped off her broom but at the last moment she swung her legs back onto the handle. 

            Fred, a very angry yet mischievous look on his face, drew back his hand and threw his beater club at Flint's head. The Slytherin's head jerked forward and his nose hit his broom handle. Madam Hooch blew the whistle, giving bother teams penalties. Alicia flew forward and took the Quaffle. She beat the Keeper and made the score 20-0, Gryffindor. Moments later, Wood pulled off an amazing save and the score remained the same. 

            A few scores later, it was 50-10, Gryffindor, thanks to another score from Katie. Fred and George took to guarding her, waving their clubs about. But the two Slytherin Beaters, named Bole and Derrick, decided to aim the Bludgers at Oliver. They hit him one after the other in the stomach.

            "Wood!" Angelina cried as Madam Hooch blew her whistle. Angelina took the Quaffle and put all her anger into the throw. The Slytherin Keeper was no match for it. It whistled past his ear and into the middle hoop. 60-10. Harry suddenly whooshed past Angelina, who shaded her eyes and looked where he was going. There was a tiny golden glimmer- the Snitch! "C'mon, Harry!" Angelina yelled. But Malfoy grabbed onto the tail of Harry's Firebolt. Harry turned around and tried to shake Malfoy off, but the Snitch disappeared. "Damn!" Angelina muttered. Alicia took the penalty but missed. Slytherin scored- 70-20. Angelina grabbed the Quaffle and streaked down the field towards the Slytherin posts. Seven green blurs flew down towards her, trying to block her. 

            Just then, Harry Potter came blasting out of nowhere. The Slytherin players scattered and Angelina scored. It was 80-20. Angelina smiled at Harry, who was zooming towards Malfoy. He had seen the Snitch! Angelina froze. Everyone froze, except the two Seekers. The Firebolt was gaining on Malfoy's Nimbus Two Thousand and One. Harry reached out-

            "YES!" Oliver cried. 

            "We've won the Cup!" Alicia shrieked.             

            The whole team flew down and hugged. They were a knot in the field of crimson fans coming down onto the field. Someone lifted Harry and Oliver up onto their shoulders. Angelina smiled and ran beside them. Oliver reached down and took her hand. Angelina squeezed it and beamed up at him.

            "Angelina! Angelina!" someone was calling. Oliver let go of her hand. _Cedric_! Angelina realized. She ran over to him. He lifted her up and gave her a kiss. "You won the Cup! You WON THE CUP!" Angelina shrieked as he spun her around.

            "Look, go!" Cedric said, pointing to Wood, who was handing Harry the Cup. Angelina grabbed Cedric's hand and pulled him towards Wood. 

            "Oliver, we won the Cup!" Angelina shrieked as she grabbed his hand with her free one and pulled him down. She bounced on the balls of her feet. "We won the Cup, we beat Slytherin!" Oliver laughed and jumped up and down with her. 

Oliver wiped a tear of his cheek. "We won the Cup!" he yelled. 


	13. Exam Week End Part One

**~*Chapter Thirteen*~ **

Exam Week  

            "DAMNIT!" Oliver roared, pounding his hand on the table. Angelina reached out hurriedly to stop her inkbottle from tipping over.

            "Oliver!" she said. "What is wrong with you?"

            "Damn O.W.L.s!" was his answer. He threw down his quill and looked wistfully outside. Alicia slammed her book shut. 

            "It's too nice outside to study," she said. The giant squid floated across the lake, causing tiny waves to break against the beach. Katie sighed and propped her chin on her hand. Across the room, Percy was screaming at a couple of second years that had laughed at a joke.       

            "He's getting unbelievable," Angelina said. Fred grunted.

            "Just look at Hermione," he said. Piles and piles of books surrounded the third year, so she was hardly visible behind titles like _Ancient Runes for Third Years _and _How to Ignore a Hinkypunk_. Neville Longbottom sat next to her, immersed in_ Potions for Dummies_. 

            "The perfect summer day, and we have to study," Katie murmured. The summer air drifted in through the open window.

            "Shut that window," Percy ordered. Alicia reached over and lazily banged her hand down on the bottom of the glass, causing it to slide down half an inch. George's head dropped onto his book. 

            "I have to get out of here," he said. 

            "This room needs a Dungbomb," Fred said. 

            "No!" Oliver shouted. Percy glared at them from across the room as a pile of Hermione's books tipped over. 

***

            Exam week came and crawled by. Angelina forgot all the ingredients for the Potions exam and only remembered them at the last minute. Fred and George were even serious, carrying around armfuls of books and scowling out the window, daring the weather to turn nicer. But the sky grew bluer with each passing day. Flocks of birds sang from their perches on the trees and students angrily slammed windows shut. The giant squid sunned on the shores of the lake and students took to watching it after exams when their minds wandered from studying. 

            But, as all things come to an end, the last exam was finished and the students were home free. Angelina met Cedric on the front steps of the castle, and they sat on the shores of the lake watching the giant squid and lazily drinking iced pumpkin juice. The weather had grown even nicer and sultry blasts of air picked Angelina's hair off her shoulders. Cedric and her joked and walked around the grounds all day long, pausing to watch a competitive game of Gobstones between a Slytherin fifth year and a Gryffindor sixth year. The Slytherin won and the Gryffindor walked away, his robes dripping with yellow, poisonous-looking juices. 

            Very often the two found themselves alone. These were the best parts of the day. The bright sun would be above them and the lush grass would be underneath them and they would kiss until dinnertime. Their eyes would meet from two tables away and they would smile knowing smiles at each other, their eyes communicating words that their mouths would never dreamed of saying. Angelina would find notes slipped in her bag, or left behind the suit of armor on the second floor. She didn't tell Katie or Alicia about these; she felt that some things should be private and your best friends shouldn't have to know everything. However, the two girls felt that something was up and took to tailing Angelina, even once seeing her kiss Cedric in the Charms room after class, but Angelina never found out about that little episode. Cedric also took to calling her 'Angel', and while that had been annoying coming from Fred or George or Oliver, it sounded just right when Cedric said it.

            It was in this way that Cedric became the greater part of Angelina Johnson's life. 

**~*END PART ONE*~**


	14. Part Two: The Announcement

A/N- may I remind you about the small AU factor in this fic? Angelina and everyone is seventeen now!!! Don't flame me on it!!!

**PART TWO**

**~*Chapter One*~**

~*…If I had one wish it would be to see you again/… how come the world won't stop spinning/now that you're gone/ I know every end has beginnings/but this one's so wrong/ Caught in the middle/ wrong place, wrong time/and I'm hopelessly missing you/and I can't stop…/Nothing's fair anymore/and I know there's a better place/and I'll never stop dreaming of you/… How can the seasons keep changing/since you disappeared? /… Sweet tears are shed/this pain we lay to rest/...How come the world won't stop spinning…? ~*How Come the World Won't Stop*~*Anastacia*~ 

            Angelina Johnson stepped off the train to a gust of wind. She clutched the handle of her broom in her right hand and pulled her cart of baggage along with her left. Alicia puffed along beside her, pulling her own cart with both hands, her broom balanced precariously between two suitcases.

            "Alicia!" Wood bellowed from across the platform. "Tell me, how many Chocolate Frogs did you eat over summer vacation?"

            Alicia was silent.

            "Tell me!" 

            "Seven hundred twenty eight," Alicia shouted indignantly. "Not that it's any of your business."

            Wood puffed up like a blowfish. Alicia shoved him out of her way and almost knocked him over with the cart. Angelina smiled and shook her head, grinning and following her friend down the ramp to the carriages.

            "Déjà vu," Angelina murmured. "Same argument every year."

            "Well it wouldn't be déjà vu if Wood's bony ass would mind it's own business," Alicia argued, her cheeks red as she heaved the last suitcase into a carriage.

            "Ouch!" came a voice from within. "Watch it, will you!"

            "Sorry Fred," Alicia said grumpily, climbing inside. Fred rubbed his temple as Angelina threw her broom in and tossed her baggage into the pile of Gryffindor luggage.

            "Why didn't you put your bags into the pile, Alicia?" Fred wanted to know. "They have it so that things like this don't happen!" Fred banged his head against the wall of the carriage. "Duh."

            "I have valuable possessions in my bags that I don't want other people handling!" Alicia said.

            "Like Chocolate Frogs?" Oliver said grumpily as he hoisted himself into the carriage and sat down next to Alicia.

            "Worse," Angelina offered.

            "I don't want to know," Oliver mumbled. Alicia's lips thinned out as she looked at their captain, and then she sighed and looked out the window. 

            "There's Potter," she murmured. Fred grunted and twirled a shamrock-spangled hat in his hands.

            "You went to the Cup?" Angelina said, smiling and gesturing at the hat.

            "Yup," Fred said proudly. "Top Box."

            "Wow," Katie said, stroking the hat with her index finger. Oliver's brows drew together.

            "I heard there was some Dark stuff going on," he said, his voice low and concerned. Fred's brow furrowed and he stopped twirling the hat.

            "Yeah," George said. "The Death Eaters."

            Angelina heard a sharp intake of breath all around the carriage. Katie bit her lip. Alicia's bright eyes were dark. Angelina wrung her hands. 

            "And the Dark Mark?" Oliver said.

            "Stop it!" Alicia said sharply. "Can we talk about something else?" there was a pleading note in her voice. Fred looked a bit guilty as the carriage pulled up to the castle. Small lights twinkled in the darkness as the first years pulled up across the lake. Angelina could make out Hagrid's heavy outline as he ushered the nervous students into the castle. The door swung open- Professor McGonagall. 

            Katie pushed the carriage door open. Alicia hoisted her bags onto the cart and pulled them out behind her. Angelina grabbed her broom- she wouldn't entrust it to the mercy of the pile- and followed her friends up the path to the castle, falling in step next to Wood and Fred. She scanned the crowd for Cedric but had no luck in finding him. She frowned in disappointment. They had traded letters all summer except for these last few weeks, he had not replied. Alicia turned around to wait for her. "Go ahead and drop off your bags," Angelina said. Alicia nodded, a worried look in her eyes- Angelina had mentioned the letters before in a sad tone, and then didn't want to talk about them. Alicia hurried up the stairs and opened the portrait hole (she had overheard the password from the prefect) and threw her bags into the dormitory, where the other luggage was arranged in neat piles at the foot of the beds. She shook her head and joined the feast just as the Sorting was wrapping up.

            Angelina was loading up her plate, being carefully watched by Wood. Alicia dropped into her seat and gratefully spooned large portions of everything onto her golden plate. Oliver sighed in resignation and took a little more food- but just a little. Angelina smiled. Celebrate small triumphs.

            "This pudding is excellent!" George said through a mouthful. Even Oliver had to agree. But the dessert-fest was cut short as Dumbledore stood. The pudding melted from the plates (much to George's disappointment) as the Headmaster clapped his hands for silence.

            Dumbledore gave the ever-expanding list of forbidden objects ("Not the Fanged Frisbees!" moaned Fred) and then he said the twenty-one forbidden words:

            "It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." 

            "What?" Harry shouted from a bit down the table. Oliver banged his fist on the table, overturning a goblet of pumpkin juice onto Katie's robes, who shrieked from both the bad news and the cold liquid seeping through her clothes. The twins remained silent, their eyes stormy and looking as if they were about to pop. Alicia gasped wordlessly as Angelina stared in horror at the Headmaster. 

            "WHAT did he say?" she asked. Her question didn't need to be answered. She wouldn't have heard it if it had been answered anyway, because she had just caught Cedric's eye from across the Great Hall. He looked enraged and confused, his eyes mirroring Angelina's feelings. He held her gaze for a moment.

            "This is due to an Event that will be starting in October and continuing throughout the school year," Dumbledore said. He was cut short by a loud clap of thunder. The doors of the Hall swung open with a great force and crashed against the walls; the booming sounds echoing off the high, bewitched ceiling.

            A man stood in the doorway. At least, Angelina thought it was a man. She wasn't quite sure. He had a strange, scarred face and carried a worn walking staff. His robes hung off his arms in drapes, light shining through holes and mats in the fabric. 

            And his eyes! There was the small one, as small as a bead and as black as the midnight sky and as shiny as a diamond. The other eye was large; at least thrice the size of his other eye, and it was bluer than a sapphire. It moved on its own accord, rolling to and fro and back into the man's skull occasionally. The man walked to the High Table, had a word with Dumbledore, and then sat down to eat.

            Professor Dumbledore then introduced the man as their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. "Professor Moody," he called him.

            "Mad Eye Moody?" hissed someone from down the table. Fred and George said something about their Dad.

            "As I was saying," Professor Dumbledore continued, "It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."

            "The Triwizard Tournament?" Katie said excitedly.

            "You're JOKING," insisted Fred.

            Dumbledore laughed and went on to explain about the tournament. Angelina listened even though she knew more about the Tournament then most of the others. Her grandfather had been champion. His best friend had died in the last task.

            Beaxbatons and Durmstrang would be the other two schools. Angelina had heard of them before. They were two other wizarding schools in Europe. Then Dumbledore explained about the age limit. Angelina and her friends didn't have to worry about this, as they were all seventeen. Fred and George were grinning happily about the prospects of the promised prize and envisioning themselves rolling about in mountains of Galleons. 

            Angelina sat back in her chair, thinking about the Tournament. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad year after all. 


	15. Aren't I Your Angel?

**~*Chapter Two*~**

**Aren't I Your Angel?**

            "Greenhouse four! Greenhouse four!" Fred chanted in a singsong voice as he stood outside the greenhouse. George stood glumly next to him.

            "With the Hufflepuffs!" he reminded his brother. The smile was dashed off Fred's face as the other House came down the hill, clumped in groups. Angelina searched the crowd for Cedric. There he was! She pushed in between the twins towards the Hufflepuffs. Cedric was talking to a girl. Angelina felt a pang in her heart- jealousy. _Don't be stupid_, she told herself. _Cedric likes me_. 

            "Hi Cedric," Angelina said quietly, tapping him lightly on the shoulder. He turned away from the girl and greeted Angelina with a flash of his white smile.

            "Hi Angelina," he said. She noticed a worried look in his eyes.

            "What's wrong?" she asked concernedly. 

            "Nothing," he said quickly. "I have to talk to you. Later. After class. It's important." 

            "Are you sure that nothing is wrong?" she asked. 

            "Mm," he said. Then he turned back to his friend. Angelina stalked back into the greenhouse and plopped into a stool in between Katie and Alicia.

            "Have you ever felt the urge to eat these?" Alicia asked, holding up a shiny looking bean.

            "No," Katie said promptly.

            "What about you, Gelina?" 

            "Don't call me Gelina."

            "Sorry Gelina."

            "Who's Gelina?" Fred asked, leaning across the table. Angelina spewed out an exasperated sound.

            "Gelina." Offered Alicia. 

            "STOP IT!" Angelina yelled. 

            "Gelina. That's a good one!" George said, slipping a few of the shiny bean pods into his pocket. Fred slit one of the beans open with his wand and they were immediately drenched in a foul liquid. 

            "WEASLEY!" called Professor Sprout angrily.

            "Yes?" whimpered Fred, trying to get the stuff out of his eyes.

            "What have I told you about cutting things open?" she said threateningly.

            "Don't do it," offered the Other Weasley.

            "That is correct," the short professor thundered. "Now, escort yourselves down to the hospital wing, pronto! You'll lose your toenails if that isn't washed off immediately!"

            "Well, this is just great," said Oliver as Madam Pomfrey was sponging him off behind a curtain. "Thanks a lot, Fred." Fred looked sheepish as he pulled on his spare robes. The wet ones were being carted off by Filch, who had been ordered to disinfect them.

            "Do you ever listen? To _anyone_?" asked Katie as she reapplied her lip-gloss.

            "No," answered George.

            "I didn't think so," she said with venom. "Let's see, over the years you have turned me into a canary, almost blew me up on several occasions, turned my hair purple and orange, put fire-breathing salamanders in my bed, put a bat in my underwear drawer, sent me three Howlers, and now," Katie paused for breath, "you've gotten me drenched in mystery-bean juice and almost caused me to lose my toenails!"  
            The twins sat in silence. "Okay, which one of you likes her?" asked Alicia. George reached into his pocket and pulled out the bean pods. 

            "I won't be needing these," he said sadly. 

            "You're _pathetic_," said Katie. 

            "I know," answered Fred. Katie sighed. 

            "Shoo. Go back to class, you'll have you're robes back directly," said Madam Pomfrey. They filed out the door grumbling against the twins. 

            "Everyone thinks _we're _the bad guys," said Fred.

            "You are," reminded Alicia.

            "They're so stereotypical," insisted George.

            "Just because we look evil doesn't mean that we are!" said Fred. Angelina ignored them, as she had spotted Cedric standing outside the door of the hospital wing.

            "Hi Cedric," she said quietly, a worried undertone in her voice.

            "Hi," he replied. He was clearly uncomfortable. "We have to talk."

            "I know," she said.

            "The thing is, I don't know if we should"-

            "What?" Angelina interrupted. 

            "I don't know if we should see each other anymore, Angelina," Cedric said desperately.

            "Why?" Angelina asked.

            "Because," Cedric said sadly. "Because there's someone else."

            "Who?" Angelina pressed.

            "Does it really matter?" Cedric asked.

            "No. I guess it doesn't," Angelina said. Then she turned on her heel and walked down the hall. A part of her mind didn't believe it was true. A part of her mind knew it was all too true. Another part was resigned to moving on, and the last part was attached to staying behind, to dwelling on the past, to loving Cedric no matter what. 

            "It's only the second day of school," Angelina whispered to herself, as if it mattered. When she reached the end of the hall she turned back. Cedric was still standing there, but he wasn't alone. 

            He was with Cho Chang.

~*~ 

            Angelina fled around the corner, almost bowling over Mrs. Norris during her sprint to the common room. She even managed to step on a stray Dungbomb that was lying on the floor, much to the protests of a group of first years. She took the stairs two at a time up to the girls dormitory. Thankfully, it was empty.

            She collapsed on her bed, sobbing. The truth had registered. She had given her heart away and look what had become of it all.

            There, in the silence of the dormitory, she swore to herself that it would never happen again. 


	16. The End of the World

A/N- _perhaps_ it will be an Ang/Ollie fic later, but we all know what must happen next- Gred. I mean, Fred. :0)

~*Chapter Three*~

The End of the World

~*If you want me to wait/ I will wait for you/ if you tell me to stay/ I will stay right through/if you don't want to say anything at all/ I'm happy wondering*~*Wondering*Good Charlotte*~ 

            "Gelina?" asked Fred timidly.

            "Don't call her Gelina," Alicia scolded. 

            "You hypocrite!" shouted Fred.

            "Shut up!" Katie bellowed. Half the Great Hall fell silent. Katie shrunk in her chair.

            "Nice one," said George.

            "Shut up," Katie repeated, a bit more quietly this time. Conversation resumed gradually, accompanied with curious glances at the Gryffindor Chaser. 

            "Are you okay?" asked Oliver. None of the boys knew what had happened. Alicia shushed them with an air of superiority. 

            "Oh, I guess it's some sort of secret?" said George.

            "Did you wet the bed?" Fred teased. Angelina slammed her palms down on the table, making the golden goblets shiver. She got up angrily and stormed out of the hall without a word. Alicia glared at them and Katie sighed, making clucking noises with her tongue. "Will someone please enlighten me?" Fred called after the three. Then he sighed. 

            "I think she wet the bed," said George.

            "You _idiot_," said Oliver.

            "I know," said George. Fred stirred his spoon in his oatmeal, breaking apart the lumps slowly. He appeared to be in deep thought. This worried the other two boys and they traded concerned glances. Fred had never thought for this long before.

            "I bet Trelawney's put a trance on him," George proclaimed.

            "What?" Fred asked, shaking his head slightly. George looked triumphant.   

            "See?" he said.

            "See what?"

            "See Spot run!" George said.

            "Shut up," said Oliver.

            "Don't you leave now too," said George. Oliver glared at him. George groaned. "He's turning into Katie," he hissed to his brother. Fred agreed.

~*~

            "It's not the end of the world," said Katie, resting her palms on the windowsill and looking out. Angelina sighed and wiped off her tears with the back of her hand.

            "Then why does it feel like it?" she asked desperately. 

            "It _always _feels like that when you break up," Alicia insisted.

            "You would know," Katie snapped. Alicia had never had the opportunity to break up, i.e. she had never been asked out. She blushed. Angelina bit the inside of her lip until blood flowed, pressing into the spaces in her mouth. She pushed herself off the bed and stumbled to the bathroom, spitting a stream of red spit into the sink. She turned on the faucet full blast and washed it be rinsed down the sink. 

            "You're letting it tear you apart!" cried Alicia dramatically.

            "Too bad Hogwarts doesn't have a drama club," said a voice from the door.

            "FRED!" Angelina cried, scandalized.

            "What? You LEFT THE DOOR OPEN," he said. "And I just couldn't help but listen."

            "You son of a"- Katie screeched, kicking him in the vicinity of his privates. Fred howled.

            "Serves you right, you kinky bastard!" cried Alicia.

            "Kinky?" asked Angelina.

            "Kinky," Restated Alicia. 

            "_Slimy _is more appropriate," Katie said.

            "Or _redneck_," Angelina added. Fred fell to the floor in the hallway. 

"What happened to you?" George asked. Fred groaned.

            "That b"-

            "FRED! I don't want you using that language," George said sternly. 

            Fred grunted and pulled himself.

            Angelina sighed, half happy and half sad. At least she had some friends to share the end of the world with. They would make things better-

            Right? 


	17. The Goblet of Fire

Whoa. Long chappy! (4 me neway. Dunt it drive u craZ wen ppl rite like dis?) 

**~*Chapter Four*~**

**A Krummy Arrival **

Triwizard Tournament The delegations from Beauxbatons and   
Durmstrang will be arriving at 6 o' clock 

_On Friday the 30th of October. Lessons will_

_End half an hour early. _

_Students will return their bags and books_

_To their dormitories and assemble in front_

_Of the castle to greet our guests before_

_The Welcoming Feast. _

            "Hm," said Alicia.

            "What?" asked Katie. 

            "Beauxbatons and Durmstrang," Alicia said. "Never heard of them."

            "Maybe they're Muggles," Katie piped up.

            "Don't be stupid, Katie," Angelina said wearily. "Muggles- Tri_wizard _Tournament?" 

            "Oh yeah," said Katie.

            "So they're wizards," said Alicia. "Hm." 

            "We get out of Defense Against the Dark Arts half an hour early," said Katie happily. Angelina shrugged.

            "Moody's kind of cool," she said.

            "He's _weird,_" said Katie, shivering.

            "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" barked Alicia. Katie jumped.

            "Hey," said Fred, walking up to the girls. "Don't make fun of Mad Eye. He's cool. Turned Malfoy into a ferret," Fred said happily.

            "Yeah," said George. Oliver tailed behind as usual, his arms folded under his books and his gaze trailing on the floor. 

            On Friday the 30th, the school lined up in front of the school as the announcement had said. Angelina stood between Alicia and Fred in the last line. The stars winked overhead, partially muted out by the glare of the lanterns hung on the stones of the castle. Angelina pulled her robe more tightly around her body and sneaked a glance to the side, where the Hufflepuffs were standing. Cedric stood at the end of the row, next to that Ravenclaw brat. Angelina's jaw tightened. Her heart thumped on pure jealousy. Cho flipped her shiny black hair over her shoulder and smiled up at Cedric. Angelina's eyes welled up with tears as she watched Cedric lean down and place a light kiss on Cho's lips. 

            "Angelina," Fred hissed.

            "What?" Angelina said, sniffling involuntarily.

            "You're crying," Fred said, brushing a tear off her cheek. Angelina turned away before Alicia could see what was happening. "What's wrong?" Fred asked, his voice full of concern. "Is everything okay?"

            "No," Angelina whispered, but her voice was lost in the sudden uproar from the crowd. Hands shot up, pointing at the sky. For a moment Angelina thought she was seeing a very large comet shoot across the sky- but the comet was coming towards them at an unbelievable speed. It shot across the sky and then came lower, hurtling towards the castle. The first years in the front shifted nervously in their spots. The carriage landed with a crash onto the grounds, the enormous horses that had pulled it all huffing and snorting and stamping their gigantic hooves on the grass. A dirt clod flew up and landed at one of the first years' feet. 

            "Beauxbatons!" someone shouted. A small boy leaped down from the carriage and pressed a small button on the powder-blue side. Thin, gossamer steps made of fine gold unfolded from the carriage, making no mark on the ground. Then, something stepped onto the steps, which remarkably didn't fold and crumble under the something's obvious weight.

            Wait- it wasn't a something, it was a someone! A woman as large as Hagrid stepped down from the carriage and smoothed her hair. 

            Dumbledore strode forward and took one of the woman's hands. "…Madam Maxime!" he said, greeting the Beauxbatons headmistress. Behind Madame Maxime, students were descending from the carriage, fixing the sheer scarves that covered their heads and complaining of the cold. After a moment of conversation between the two, the giant lady led her students into the castle.     

            Minutes past, stretched out because of the cold. The air was still and silent. Necks craned upwards, searching the sky for the Durmstrang party. 

            "The lake!" someone called. Indeed, the lake was pouring over the banks, and frothing and bubbling in the middle. A large ship rose out of the lake, the squid scooting out of the way just in time. Angelina gasped. A ship, rising out of the lake! That wasn't something you saw every day. An anchor was cast out, landing with a great splash next to the squid, which then disappeared into the murky depths of the lake. The Durmstrang students climbed out of the ship and hiked up the grounds, their hair and skin covered with a light mist from the lake.           

            The headmaster came forward. He was not a giant, unlike Madam Maxime. The two headmasters shook hands and exchanged formalities. 

            "That's Viktor Krum!" whispered Fred, pointing frantically to one of the students behind the headmaster, Karkaroff.

            "Viktor Krum?" Angelina asked excitedly, standing on her toes to get a better look. "Whoa, Alicia, look! Viktor Krum!" 

            Alicia screamed like she was at a Britney Spears concert, fumbling for something in her pocket. "D'ya think he'll sign my hat in lipstick?" she asked. Angelina rolled her eyes.

            "Honestly," Katie said.

            The Durmstrang students went inside, followed by the Hogwarts people. All welcomed the warmth of the Great Hall. Some of the Beauxbatons students drew the scarves off their heads and the Durmstrang students at the Slytherin table found the gold tableware very interesting. 

            "Look at them," Fred scoffed.

            "Like they've never seen a plate before," George added.

            "Grow up," said Katie. "They're _cool _plates."

            Dumbledore stood and knocked his spoon against his own golden cup. The chatter died down as the headmaster spread his hands out in a welcoming gesture.

            "The moment has come," Dumbledore said. Angelina shivered and felt a giddy laugh claw its way up her throat. She took one last sip of her pumpkin juice to still it before it dissolved out of her cup and drained down into the kitchens below.

            "…Few words of explanation before we bring in the casket," Dumbledore was saying. Angelina glanced around. The other students looked as bewildered as she felt. Dumbledore introduced the two Ministry judges, one of who was-

            "LUDO BAGMAN!" Oliver burst out. "The Great One!"

            "Of Quidditch," Alicia piped up.

            "Isn't that Gretzky's nickname?" asked some third year.

            "Don't forget about hockey!" someone else shouted.

            "Shh!" Katie said. "Shut up!"  
            Filch was bringing a gigantic box up to the High Table. It was covered in diamonds, which were connected to a swirling, henna-like design that was buried deep in the ancient wood. Excited whispers filled the Hall. 

            "As you know, three champions compete in the Tournament," said Dumbledore. "One from each of the participating schools. 

            "The champions will be chosen by an impartial selector- the Goblet of Fire."

            Dumbledore drew his wand out of his sleeve and let it hang in his hand for a moment, still in the air. Then he brought it down upon the casket gently, three times. The lid eased open. Dumbledore produced a splintery wooden cup from inside the box. Flames leaked out of the cup like blue tentacles and licked the sides of the goblet. 

            "Aspiring champions have twenty-four hours in which to put their names forward," said the headmaster, gesturing towards the Goblet, which was now resting on top of the box. "Tomorrow night the Goblet will determine the Champions. I will be drawing an Age Line around the Goblet.

            "Now, I think it is time for bed. Good night to you all!" 

            The students filed out of the Great Hall. Fred pushed his way through the Durmstrang lot and fell into step beside Angelina, who had wandered ahead of the rest of the group.

            "Good thing we don't have to worry about that age limit," Fred said heartily, pulling a very wrinkled piece of parchment and a bent quill out of the pocket of his robes. He scrawled his name and the word 'Hogwarts' upon the paper and dropped it into the Goblet. The flames curled around it, emitting a puff of white smoke into the air. Fred grinned widely and hopped back over the Age Line. Angelina traced the thin mark with the toe of her sneaker.

            "Well, aren't you going to put yours in?" Fred asked. Angelina shrugged and sighed. 

            "I don't know," she said. Oliver walked up to the Goblet and held his paper slightly above the flames for a moment, as if he was second-guessing himself. A look of intense thought passed over his features. Angelina walked over to him and rested her hand on his arm gently.

            "Are you going to put it in or not?" she asked.

            "Yeah," said Oliver.

            "So put it in," she said. "Doesn't make any difference whether you put it in now or later. You still have the same chance, right?" 

            "I guess," Oliver said. He rested the parchment against the brim of the Goblet and exhaled gently. Then he let it go. The parchment fluttered into the flames and disappeared into the depths of the cup.

            "Well done, Wood," said Fred, slapping the Captain heartily on the back. "May the best man win."

            Oliver grunted in a sort of way. "Are _you _going to put _yours_ in, Angelina?" Oliver asked.

            "I guess," Angelina said, her lips curling in an involuntary smile. "Oh, shut up."

            "I didn't say anything," said Oliver. 

            "He's right, you know," Fred pointed out. "You can't tell anyone to shut up if they didn't say anything yet." 

            "Oh, shut up," said Angelina. 


End file.
